A repository for Marcospinelli's comments and essays published at other websites.

Marijuana Chain Planned By Jamen Shively; Investment Will Total $100 Million Over 3 Years

Friday, May 31, 2013


I, too, have known people who used marijuana on a near constant basis and there are a few truths I've learned over the years about substance users.  

We are each different, some of us using food as drugs, alcohol as drugs, golf (or any sport or exercise) as a drug, s.e.x as a drug, etc.  When it comes right down to it, we're each just a bag of chemicals, configured in different ways, but each of our own collection or combination of chemicals makes us feel a particular way.  Most of us don't feel at our optimum without some substance, and each affects our productivity to some degree or other.  

People do drugs for one reason and one reason alone:  Their waking state doesn't feel good.  I know someone who takes 2 Aleve every 12 hours, not for any high or sense of intoxication, but because he says it gives him "a general sense of well-being".  Who knows the long term effects of Aleve on the body?  That's the real issue, and for that we need to look to a whole variety of why that is and what can be done about it.  The long term effects of such seemingly benign substances as Sweet & Low may cause health problems that will cost us in ways that a "low productivity employee" would.  In America, we drive ourselves mercilessly, not taking vacations.  Our employers have made taking time off a battle, trying to make us believe that our lives are our work.  It's not.  A "low productivity employee" just may be self-medicating to get what every other employee in civilized western nations get (a vacation) to keep himself at a job below his skill level.  The way our economy is going, employees are becoming obsolete.  What jobs there will be will be low paying and require few skills.

When it comes to work productivity, marijuana affects people differently.  Currently I can name about a dozen people who would fit your "constant" definition, and a more brilliant and productive group I've never known.  From lawyers to EMTs to wildly successful entrepreneurs and even a private airline pilot.  

I should tell you that I don't smoke marijuana, but I did back in the 60s, and I'm not one of those whom I put in that category.   I wouldn't smoke marijuana on the job because I do value my work performance and me, it impairs.  But I don't need a law or drug testing to prevent me from doing it.  If murder wasn't against the law would you commit it?  I suspect that you, too, don't need a law to prevent you from drinking alcohol.
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Income Inequality Gets Worse When You Slash Taxes On The Rich: Study

Thursday, May 30, 2013


Because that's how we (and just about every other nation in the world) measures it.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_best_policy/2010/02/tax_fraud.htmlhttp://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=205

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/businessdesk/2012/09/do-lower-taxes-goose-growth.html
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CNN's Carol Costello To Medea Benjamin: People Think You're 'Rude' And 'Crazy' For Interrupting Obama (VIDEO)

Saturday, May 25, 2013


I both watched Obama's speech and read it.  What do you think we missed?
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CNN's Carol Costello To Medea Benjamin: People Think You're 'Rude' And 'Crazy' For Interrupting Obama (VIDEO)


Why don't you do some research before you waste my time?  For example, Yemen has DEMANDED the repatriation of its citizens (about 100) that are in Gitmo.  And you do know that the U.S. has FEDERAL prisons, don't you?  SuperMax prisons.
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CNN's Carol Costello To Medea Benjamin: People Think You're 'Rude' And 'Crazy' For Interrupting Obama (VIDEO)


As far as vetoes and appropriations' bills, vetoes are NEVER "a fool's errands".  Every tool in the legislative toolbox is a weapon.  Just as the bully pulpit is a tool, a veto, especially used by a president with approval numbers as high as Obama's, helps to inform and move public opinion.  That comes in handy especially for affecting congressional members' bids for reelection.  Obama uses the bully pulpit and veto threats when he wants to - All that his refusal to do so on these issues means is that he doesn't support what he claims to have supported.

The man is a fraud, and the sooner that Obama's 'most ardent supporters' realize that, the sooner he'll work in their best interests.  Right now, he's Reagan, reincarnated.
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CNN's Carol Costello To Medea Benjamin: People Think You're 'Rude' And 'Crazy' For Interrupting Obama (VIDEO)


I think #2 has already happened.

=========================

If the ban had been lifted, in actuality, then they'd have been transferred.  About 100 are Yemen and about 56 of those have long ago been cleared.  
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CNN's Carol Costello To Medea Benjamin: People Think You're 'Rude' And 'Crazy' For Interrupting Obama (VIDEO)


Medea Benjamin isn't a "radical".  Speaking truth to power doesn't make someone "radical"; it's the American way.  Just like there are no "extreme" or "far left" in the Democratic­Party.  They left long ago, and can be found bombing animal testing labs and burning down suburban subdivisio­n sites being built on land where ancient forest have been clear cut.  If they vote at all anymore, it's as Independen­ts and rarely for Democrats.

I am an old FDR liberal Democrat.  If you think that's far left, then that's what you think about FDR.  If you think Obama's a liberal, or any kind of a real Democrat, then you haven't been listening to him - By his own definition, his own words, he's a Reagan-Republican.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r-emodk73w

From my life's experience, my travels around the nation, my work and interaction with Americans from all walks of life, when informed of the issues, most Americans agree with liberal policies. Neither they (nor I) would characteri­ze themselves as far-anythi­ng or extreme, but mainstream­. For example, nobody likes the idea of abortion, but most Americans do not want the government involved if they find themselves in the predicamen­t of an unwanted pregnancy. And if you frame it as, "You like to kill babies?!?! ?!?!", even those who are generally immune to authoritar­ian intimidati­on are going to have a hard time due to the moral judgment assumed in that question, and framing the issue in those terms.

Real Democratic policies aren't that hard to sell to Americans.  When most Americans want Medicare and other government programs which they've benefitted from to continue and teabaggers shout "No government control of healthcare­; Get your hands off my Medicare", the answer is EDUCATION.
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CNN's Carol Costello To Medea Benjamin: People Think You're 'Rude' And 'Crazy' For Interrupting Obama (VIDEO)


"On topics from Guantánamo to drone strikes, I couldn’t let the president act as if he were some helpless official at the mercy of Congress." ~ Medea Benjamin

She's right.  

If Obama was sincere about wanting to close down Guantanamo, here are 3 things he could do without Congress:

He can appoint an official State Department Position responsible for arranging detainee transfers.

He can lift the ban on transferring detainees back to Yemen.

He can veto the National Defense Authorization Act (provisions to the bill expire on September 30th, 2013).
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CNN's Carol Costello To Medea Benjamin: People Think You're 'Rude' And 'Crazy' For Interrupting Obama (VIDEO)


Three Things Obama Can Do To Close Guantanamo
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CNN's Carol Costello To Medea Benjamin: People Think You're 'Rude' And 'Crazy' For Interrupting Obama (VIDEO)


Not only aren't "regular folks" given a seat at the table, it's rare that this president even faces questioning by a corporate media that, in general, fawns over him and doesn't challenge his policies.
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CNN's Carol Costello To Medea Benjamin: People Think You're 'Rude' And 'Crazy' For Interrupting Obama (VIDEO)


Anyone who isn't aware of Medea Benjamin, her writings, her speaking out for peace and sane American foreign policies (or Code Pink's activities) prior to 2008 must have been living under a rock, politically speaking.

Medea Benjamin Dragged off RNC Floor for Unfurling "Pro-Life: Stop the Killing of Iraq" Banner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzNpXxfLP2Q

http://www.amazon.com/The-Peace-Corps-More-Travel/dp/0929765044/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1369509784&sr=8-14&keywords=medea+benjamin

http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Be-Afraid-Gringo-Honduran/dp/006097205X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1369509784&sr=8-2&keywords=medea+benjamin

http://www.amazon.com/Cuba-Talking-Revolution-Conversations-Antonio/dp/1875284974/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1369509784&sr=8-5&keywords=medea+benjamin

http://www.amazon.com/Stop-Next-War-Now-Effective/dp/B0042P5I4C/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1369509748&sr=8-3&keywords=medea+benjamin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXPj4Kr9LZY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVwyjhYVlJw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKkqUHkqgJQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24AcQ1ilGrc

So my questions to you:  Where have you been?  And, why, on such a beautiful weekend day, you're here online, questioning those who are trying to hold Obama and Democrats to campaign promises of a different foreign policy, a sane foreign policy, a foreign policy that upholds the principles that Americans stand for, a foreign policy that doesn't create more terrorist acts against Americans?  And how is this, in your mind, about defending one man, Barack Obama, and not about your defending policies that Obama and Democrats ran on yet now ignore?
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White House Response To IRS Scandal Making The Situation Worse

Tuesday, May 21, 2013


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristie-arslan/five-big-myths-about-amer_b_866118.html
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White House Response To IRS Scandal Making The Situation Worse


Self-employed business owners get all the same tax benefits as larger businesses: 

Businesses have a seemingly infinite ability to "write-off" certain expenses on their corporate tax returns, right? But what about business owners who file individual tax returns, as most self-employed businesses do? It turns out there are fewer tax perks for the self-employed business owner. For example, corporations are able to claim health insurance policies for employees as a business expense and their employees pay for those policies with pre-tax dollars. A self-employed business owner could have claimed tax relief for purchasing health insurance last year, thanks to a one-year self-employed health insurance tax deduction in the Small Business Jobs Act, but will have to go back to paying full freight with no tax relief next year, unless Congress decides to make the deduction permanent. 

Even the tax perks specifically created for self-employed business owners can be a challenge. Taxpayers who work from home are entitled to take a home office deduction, but about 60 percent of those eligible for the deduction don't take it. One reason is that many taxpayers have heard that taking this deduction will create an audit risk, which may have been true once but was largely addressed by tax changes made in the late 1990s. The other reason for the low participation rate is that the deduction is notoriously difficult to calculate. Congress is considering solving this problem by creating a standard home office deduction, which would certainly keep more business owners from leaving money on the table when it comes to tax relief.
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White House Response To IRS Scandal Making The Situation Worse


Lending is readily available for small businesses in large and small amounts

When President Obama signed the Small Business Jobs Act last May, much attention was paid to the $30 billion Small Business Lending Fund that would be made available to community banks, credit unions and community development funds. This funding helped address the fact that neither the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds nor industry bailouts specifically helped small businesses. Although the $30 billion in lending was authorized eight months ago, the Treasury Department has yet to distribute these funds, which means the community banks have not been able to boost small business lending as the legislation intended. 

Further complicating the lending picture is the fact that self-employed business owners most often need what would be considered a "micro" loan to any lending institution, including a community bank. A business owner may only need $5,000 to invest in new office equipment or marketing efforts, but loans in such small amounts are not readily available through small business lending programs. Instead, this business owner has to use a personal credit card to make the investment, which typically has much less desirable terms and interest rates than a small business loan. What self-employed business owners need is recognition that these small loans are just as vital to business success as the larger loans that are supposed to be readily available. 

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White House Response To IRS Scandal Making The Situation Worse


More myth debunking:

Most Americans work for large corporations: 

Conventional wisdom used to hold that what's good for General Motors is good for America. While GM may no longer be the poster child for corporate America, large corporations can afford lobbyists who make sure their clients are first in line when legislation is drafted. One of the justifications in protecting the interests of corporations first is the notion that they employ the vast majority of Americans and that corporate interests are necessarily aligned with most workers'. 

But large businesses only employ about 38 percent of the private sector workforce while small businesses employ 53 percent of the workforce. In fact, over 99 percent of employing organizations are small businesses and more than 95 percent of these businesses have fewer than 10 employees. The reality is that most Americans are employed by a very small business that has little in common with the tiny sliver of the business demographic represented by corporate America.


Job growth is driven by large employers: 

Since most of us read about the handful of large employers in the business pages on a regular basis, we often assume that job creation depends on their success. While corporations do employ many Americans, small businesses account for 64 percent of net new jobs created. Many of these new jobs are also new companies -- the startup rate in 2010 was the highest it has been in 15 years, according to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity. More than half a million new businesses were created in 2010 as the poor economy and high employment rates have led more individuals into business ownership. 

Historically, small businesses grow faster than their large counterparts, too. The average growth rate of a large company with more than 500 employees over the decade ending in 2006 was about 1.3 percent. In that same period the growth rate for America's smallest businesses, the self-employed, was 3.4 percent. As small businesses grow, they hire employees, buy goods and services from other businesses, contribute to the local tax base and support individuals and their families.

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White House Response To IRS Scandal Making The Situation Worse


Then there are the tax incentives that our tax code offers for sending U.S. jobs overseas.
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White House Response To IRS Scandal Making The Situation Worse


They don't "go away".
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White House Response To IRS Scandal Making The Situation Worse


From yesterday's newspaper, here's a nice example of a scheme that are available to corporations to avoid paying taxes that aren't available to ordinary peons like you and me:

Apple Used Loopholes To Skip Paying U.S. Taxes On $44 Billion In Offshore Income, Senate Committee Claims
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White House Response To IRS Scandal Making The Situation Worse


Lie number 3) U.S. corporatio­ns are over-taxed­.

Example: Republican presidenti­al candidate Tim Pawlenty

We have the highest corporate tax rate, or one of them, in the OECD nations.
Actually, as measured in terms of share of GDP, the U.S. has the lowest corporate tax burden of any OECD nation. While the official tax bracket may seems high -- 35 percent -- if one takes into account various loopholes and tax dodges, the effective tax rate is considerab­ly lower, or around 27 percent, which comes in as slightly higher than average for OECD members. And according to ace tax report David Cay Johnston, the bigger you are, the less you pay -- the effective tax rate for the biggest U.S. corporatio­ns is only about 15 percent.

There you have it, for future handy reference. Poor people do pay taxes, the biggest corporatio­ns don't pay enough, and the United States, as a whole, has a low tax burden overall.
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White House Response To IRS Scandal Making The Situation Worse


Lie number 2) The U.S. suffers from high taxes.

Example: The Wall Street Journal's Stephen Moore:

What all this means is that in the late 1980s, the U.S. was nearly the lowest taxed nation in the world, and a quarter century later we're nearly the highest.
Totally untrue. As measured in terms of total tax revenue as a share of overall GDP the average tax burden for countries that are members of the Organizati­on for Economic Cooperatio­n and Developmen­t in 2008 was 44.8 percent. The U.S. -- 26.1 percent. The U.S. pays less taxes, as a share of GDP, than Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Austria, France, Netherland­s, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, Switzerlan­d and Japan.

Furthermor­e, as Bruce Bartlett explains in detail in The New York Times the current U.S. federal tax burden, measured, again, as a share of GDP, is only 14.8 percent -- a 60-year low.

KEEP READING
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White House Response To IRS Scandal Making The Situation Worse


The Top 3 Lies About Taxes:

Lie Number 1) Poor people don't pay taxes.
Example: From The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities­:

At a hearing last month, SenatorCha­rlesGrassl­ey said, "According to the JointCommi­tteeOnTaxa­tion, 49 percent of households are paying 100 percent of taxes coming in to the federal government­." At the same hearing, CatoInstit­uteSeniorF­ellow AlanReynol­ds asserted, "Poor people don't pay taxes in this country." Last April, referring to a TaxPolicyC­enter estimate of households with no federal income tax liability in 2009, FoxBusines­s host StuartVarn­ey said on Fox and Friends, "Yes, 47 percent of households pay not a single dime in taxes."
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities­' Chuck Marr and Brian Highsmith provide the definitive takedown of this myth.

In 2009, Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation found that 51 percent of households owed no federal income tax. According to Marr and Highsmith, that figure was inflated by special recession-­related factors -- In a more typical year, "35 to 40 percent of households pay no federal income tax."

But that does not mean that these households pay no federal taxes at all. Far from it: Nearly all working Americans pay payroll taxes to fund Medicare and Social Security.  In 2007, the poorest Americans -- taxpayers in the bottom fifth of income -- paid 8.8 percent of their income as payroll taxes. The next fifth paid almost ten percent. The top 20 percent of earners paid only 5.7 percent.  And while the government has that money, they use it and make money off of it.

And of course, these numbers don't include state and local taxes or excise fees like gas taxes, which tend to have a regressive impact that hits poorer Americans harder. Bottom line: only 14 percent of Americans don't pay either federal income taxes or payroll taxes -- and that group is made up primarily of "low-incom­e people who are elderly, unable to work due to a serious disability­, or students."

The rich have gotten rich off of the sweat and labor of others and then have taken those profits to buy politician­s who've gamed the system so that they wouldn't have to pay taxes through all manner of tax schemes not available to the poor and middle classes.  The rich also 'closed the door' on the ways that initially enabled them to amass their 'seed money' for creating their businesses­.

KEEP READING
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White House Response To IRS Scandal Making The Situation Worse

Monday, May 20, 2013


Outside corporate groups are spending way, way, way more than labor unions. Most importantly, while unions must disclose their donors, groups like Crossroads GPS can use virtually unlimited funds from anonymous sources for the sole purpose of undermining the public sector, which of course includes things like federal workers and unions.
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White House Response To IRS Scandal Making The Situation Worse


This isn't my first time at the rodeo; I anticipated where you were going, because right-wingers have been trying to equate unions with corporations since the 1930s.  Right-wingers have been arguing that liberals are being hypocritical. Why, they ask, does the left complain about the influence of corporations but not that of unions? When unions spend so much money on lobbying?

Obviously, the answer lies in the nature of each type of organization. A union, as an institution, is an aggregate of sorts; it's an aggregate of actual human beings who have constitutional rights to free speech. There is no conflict between our right to hear a union's message and our right to free speech. A corporation on the other hand is a legally defined entity, fundamentally it is not an aggregation of people. It is a legal fiction which determines the parameters within which those who control the corporation may operate. Our right to hear their message is in conflict with our right to free speech, and the latter is guaranteed to us under the constitution. Our "right to hear" could be said to flow from our right to speak; but our right to hear whom? A legal fiction or other citizen's? Our right to hear is threatened when rights are granted to legal fictions (far less democratic than unions in their internal operating structure), which, cleverly disguised as it is, is what the Citizen's United decision does by denying these non-citizen legal fictions the role of speaker equivalent to that of a citizen in order to make impossible any restriction on the speech of these non-citizen, legal fiction entities we call corporations.

No one is arguing for a blanket censure of speech through organizations and institutions, including corporations. But our right to hear does not guarantee others the right to participate in the process of elections in any manner they choose, nor is the former lost through the denial of the latter. If the logic of the Citizen's United decision were applied generally to all rights, enumerated in the Constitution or otherwise, no laws or regulations at all would be constitutional. The end result, the endgame of this line of thinking, is of course post-fascism, the abrogation the legal and political system we "enjoy" today in favor total domination at the hand of the corporate state, rule by the corporate oligarchy. "Libertarian" Goebbels-type propoganda notwithstanding.
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White House Response To IRS Scandal Making The Situation Worse


Speech isn't free, and corporations aren't people.
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White House Response To IRS Scandal Making The Situation Worse


Democrats aren't saying that. Obama and Democrats are falling all over Republicans on this, doing mea culpa after mea culpa.  Like I said, both parties would love less regulation and scrutiny, and that's what's going to be the result.  Democratic politicians refuse to engage in this "war" - It's "can't we all just get along", with Obama, as usual, pushing "bipartisanship".
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Scientists Agree (Again): Climate Change Is Happening

Thursday, May 16, 2013


Here's part 1 of 11 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oFjy5FORbo&list=PL16E277DDB6723CC0

Follow the links to the rest of the clips.
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Obama Net Worth Between $1.8M And $6.8M, Owes Money On Mortgage On Chicago Home


How about this link, from out of his own mouth? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r-emodk73w






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OFA Refuses To Push On Keystone


Ok, about the sarcasm, but know that when we're exporting something like 60% of the oil that's produced (as was the case in 2012), "not enough refineries" isn't the cause of high oil prices.
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OFA Refuses To Push On Keystone


The United States is currently a net EXPORTER of gasoline.

In September, the U.S. exported 430,000 more barrels of gasoline than it imported. The country is now on track to become a net exporter of refined oil products for the first time in 62 years.

Meanwhile, domestic prices at the gas pump are poised to rise to record levels. 

Because of the nature of the global oil market and domestic supply, the Keystone pipeline does NOT contribute to U.S. energy independence.
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OFA Refuses To Push On Keystone


"Goodbye, and nice talking to you," said no one ever to you.
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OFA Refuses To Push On Keystone


The reason we stopped drilling in the U.S. was because it didn't pay to do it.  Foreign oil was so cheap and the cost of extracting the oil in the U.S. wasn't worth it.  When that changes, when we drill again in the U.S., the cost of oil isn't going to go down, but rather it will go UP.  While the average American believes that the price is too high, in fact worldwide it's considered cheap.  

There are many "practical alternatives", sustainable clean energy, that must be adopted for the sake of our lives and civilization on the planet, but as long as there is money to be squeezed out of people these alternatives won't see the light of day.  That's because of greedy cray-zy batstards, steeped in denial.
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OFA Refuses To Push On Keystone


That's not how party politics works.  It's top-down, and Obama, very much a tool of corporations, is the one pulling Democratic members of Congress's strings.
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OFA Refuses To Push On Keystone


Keystone XL Would Increase Gas Prices and Reduce National Security - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/22/report-keystone-xl-gas-prices_n_1536227.html

Keystone Oil Pipeline Seen Raising Gas Prices in Midwest - http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-01/keystone-oil-pipeline-seen-raising-gas-prices-in-midwest-energy.html

Keystone XL Oil Pipeline Exacerbates Climate Change
A new study suggests that permitting more tar sands oil to flow would raise greenhouse gas pollution by the equivalent of nearly 40 million cars and trucks  -  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=keystone-xl-oil-pipeline-exacerbates-climate-change
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OFA Refuses To Push On Keystone


Hardly.

When we're down to tar sands, we're talking about a very expensive way to produce oil and the costly effects that the continued use of oil has on the environment more than outweighs any benefits.
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Obama Net Worth Between $1.8M And $6.8M, Owes Money On Mortgage On Chicago Home


Gerald Ford was the first ex-preside­nt to parlay the presidency into a post-offic­e gold mine, by taking paid seats on corporate boards.  The lifetime pension, healthcare­, free Secret Service protection and office expenses (as well as income from books) given to former presidents wasn't enough for Ford.  Or Reagan.  Or Bush.  Or Clinton.  Or Bush2.  

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/05/20/george-w-bushs-15-million-speech-payday.html

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/05/its-not-about-reelection-bill-clintons-80-million-payday.html
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OFA Refuses To Push On Keystone


Texas great-grandmother arrested for trespassing on own property

http://www.salon.com/2012/10/08/texas_great_grandmother_arrested_for_trespassing_own_property/
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OFA Refuses To Push On Keystone


http://truth-out.org/news/item/16346-above-all-else-a-david-and-goliath-story
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OFA Refuses To Push On Keystone


Read all about it here.
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Obama Speaks Of 'Going Bulworth' In Second Term


Want proof of how NOT populist Obama is?

OilBama Disappoints Again:

Top officials from President Barack Obama's campaign arm, which was recently rechristened as Organizing for Action, are working to dampen the passionate grassroots opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline, just as the organization launches its campaign against climate change, according to donors and OFA members.

Leaders of the group have on multiple occasions told gatherings of activists and donors that OFA will not pressure the White House on Keystone regardless of its members' interest in the issue. The administration recently pushed back a decision on approving the pipeline to November, December or even 2014. OFA's refusal to press the administration on the controversial Keystone project is reminiscent of its decision not to pressure Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on gun purchase background checks, despite -- or perhaps because of -- OFA Chairman Jim Messina's close relationship with him. Baucus voted against the president and subsequently announced his retirement.

The reticence worries those who hoped that the Obama campaign's legacy would be a strong, independent grassroots movement that could bring outside pressure on Washington, rather than continuing to act as an arm of the president. Instead of a new organization that will push the White House from a progressive flank, on Keystone, OFA is in effect pushing grassroots activists in the opposite direction.

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