Saturday, October 8, 2011

CBO: Obama jobs bill reduces budget deficit


Non-partisan CBO:
The president's Job Bill will bring down unemployment, stimulate our economy and reduce the budget.

Continued GOP opposition clearly demonstrates their numero uno priority - reclaim power.

This bipartisan report will probably not persuade the GOP congressional leadership - Mitch McConnell, Eric Cantor and John Boehner - because their allegiance is with the super rich feudal lords - and not the American people.

The Congressional Budget Office on Friday confirmed that President Obama’s jobs bill would be fully paid for over ten years and also gave its seal of approval to Senate Democrats' version that includes a surtax on millionaires.

The CBO said that the original Obama stimulus bill would involve $447 billion in tax cuts and new spending—the same estimate given by the administration. It said the bill would raise $450 billion over ten years. The result is a $3 billion decrease in deficits over ten years.

Al Davis: RIP


OAKLAND, Calif. (AP)—Al Davis, the Hall of Fame owner of the Oakland Raiders known for his rebellious spirit, has died.

The team said the 82-year-old died at his home in Oakland on Saturday morning.

It was Davis’ willingness to buck the establishment that helped turn the NFL into THE establishment in sports—the most successful sports league in American history.

Davis, elected in 1992 to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, also was a trailblazer. He hired the first black head coach of the modern era—Art Shell in 1988. He hired the first Latino coach, Tom Flores; and the first woman CEO, Amy Trask. And he was infallibly loyal to his players and officials: to be a Raider was to be a Raider for life.

But it was his rebellious spirit, that willingness to buck the establishment, that helped turn the NFL into THE establishment in sports—the most successful sports league in American history. He was the last commissioner of the American Football league and led it on personnel forays that helped force a merger that turned the expanded NFL into the colossus it remains.
READ MORE

Friday, October 7, 2011

Billionaire Koch brothers and their Iran Scandal



ABC News caught David Koch leaving his Park Avenue apartment this week, but the tea party billionaire quickly fled to his car, avoiding questions about a scandal involving his company's trade with Iran.

A recent report in Bloomberg Markets magazine revealed that Koch Industries had been caught paying bribes to win contracts, engaging in possibly-illegal trade with Iran, price fixing, and ignoring environmental regulations.

The magazine also uncovered a Koch Industries document admitting that they had violated federal law.

"It's a document right there on the record, right out of the lips of Koch Industries," Bloomberg Markets reporter David Evans told ABC News.

"I think there are enough of these payments that I think any prosecutor would want to look further," Columbia University Law School professor John Coffee explained. read more

Raising Herman Cain - Sit in the back of the bus...


Daddy Cain to Lil Herman:
Stay out of trouble and move to the back of the bus!

Apparently, Mr. Cain has always been a good boy (emphasis on boy).

Cain got mighty snippy and defensive when pressed by Lawrence O'Donnell, of MSNBC, about being MIA during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's, while he was in college.

Even though Cain reaped all the benefits of the movement, he was shrewdly perfecting another craft - learning to dance to the music of the oppressor's fiddle.

In fact, the rise in his business and political career is predicated on this talent.

Cain, making dad proud, has over learned his daddy's lesson about staying in his place. And like many have pointed out, Cain did leave the plantation; he left the plantation to work for Massa in the Big House.

You be the judge...

Lawrence O'Donnell and GOP presidential contender Herman Cain got into a tense argument about an unexpected topic on O'Donnell's Thursday show: Cain's participation in the Civil Rights movement.

The two also discussed Cain's predilection for calling people "brainwashed." He refused to back down from his assertion that many black voters have been brainwashed by the Democratic Party, and also told O'Donnell he thinks that the 81 percent of Americans who support a surtax on the rich have been brainwashed as well.


Then, O'Donnell took a surprising turn. He read out a passage from Cain's new book in which Cain discusses his childhood in Atlanta. In the passage, Cain says that he was too young to participate in the Civil Rights movement, and that his father told him to "stay out of trouble" by moving to the back of the bus.

"Where do you think black people would be sitting on the bus today if Rosa Parks had followed your father's advice?" O'Donnell asked. It was an audacious question, and Cain took the bait, reacting forcefully.

"You are distorting the intent of what i said," Cain said. "...If I had been a college student I probably would have been participating." He said that, as a high school student, "it was not prudent" for him to be involved. O'Donnell didn't buy this. He noted that Cain had been a college student "at the height" of the movement, from 1963-67, when other black people were "murdered" fighting for their rights. He asked Cain if he regretted "sitting on those sidelines."

Cain called this an "Irrelevant comparison." O'Donnell said he was just reading from Cain's book. "Did you expect every black student and every black college in America to be out there?" Cain said. "...You didn't know, Lawrence, what I was doing...maybe, just maybe, I had a sick relative!"

"I gave your book a fair reading, and I didn't read anything about a sick friend," O'Donnell said. "What I did read was a deliberate decision to not participate in the Civil Rights movement."

Cain said he didn't understand why O'Donnell was pressing this point when there were more pressing matters at hand. "Let's do the people of this country a service, Lawrence," he said.
source

On last Note:
CNN's political pundit, Rowland Martin, rhetorically asked: If Herman Cain thinks that 90% of African-American voters are brainwashed into voting for Democrats, why doesn't he (Cain) address this issue by accepting interview invitations by black media (apparently Cain avoids speaking directly to us like the plague).

We all know why, when Cain spouts his non-sense, his target audience is right-wingnuts, and his intent is to say I'm one of the good ones.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

D-Wade to Stern: I am not a child! by Greg Garrison


"Don't point your finger at me! I'm not a child!"

Oh baby, the NBA players were just given a public relations gift by commissioner David Stern's belittling behavior and gesture during the ongoing (boring) Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations.

Stern addressed the players with a schoolmaster-to-student talk down. He garnished his address with a disrespectful wag-point of his finger to his audience.

Multiple news sources quoted superstar Dwayne Wade's retort: "Don't point your finger at me! I'm not a child!"

The meeting was so heated, afterwards Wade, Lebron James and Carmelo Anthony had to be convinced by NBA Union head Billy Hunter to stay in the meeting.

Strategy Time:

Hey, Mr. Hunter and Derek Fisher, Union President, this is the perfect opportunity to get the public on your side and possibly tip the negotiations scale to your favor.

Stern's condescending attitude serves as a prime example of the bullying boss that the average fan can relate to and D-Wade's reaction humanizes the players' struggle.

It's not enough to call yourselves workers(players) who want play but the bosses(owners) will not let you. We don't buy that because we see it - just like NFL's labor dispute - as billionaires(owners) versus millionaires(players). No sympathy here.

But you could shift our attention from this aspect and highlight the little respect owners - as demonstrated by Stern - have for players, in a league dominated by black players (did I just play the race card?).

However, don't make it about race or mention race but have a media blitz to drive home Stern's and the owners' unreasonable disposition.

Have Wade and other superstars go on as many ESPN talk shows and other media outlets driving home the players position:

We (players) genuinely want to negotiate a fair deal for all parties, ensuring a full NBA season for all of our fans. Sadly, we do not have a partner in good faith. Hopefully, fans in their respective cities can let the owners and commissioner hear their disgruntle voices via e-mail, letters and phone calls demanding that the lock-out cease.

Man Rules 101

Finally, Wade cannot be criticized for his out burst because Stern broke one of the grown man rules (i.e spit in face, open hand slap to face, offending a man's children, mother or wife--you get the picture).

But D-Wade, now show your maturity, professionalism and media savvy, by telling the players' story.

Editor's Note:
I would like to welcome Greg Garrison to HGP. Greg will serve as the Sports Editor and he can be e-mailed at gregory.garrison1719@yahoo.com

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Big Union Joins The Occupy Wall Street Movement


The people are speaking - We are mad as hell and ain't gonna take it anymore.

This self-inflicted economic disaster was Wall Street's creation - as a result of unchecked greed and corruption.

And not only were they bailed at with our tax dollars, they are reaping massive profits from our misery.

In fact, as one noted international trader bragged:

“Personally, I’ve been dreaming of this moment for three years…I go to bed every night and I dream of another recession.

“For most traders, it’s not about – we don’t really care that much how they’re going to fix the economy, how they’re going to fix the whole situation,” he said. “Our job is to make money from it.”

And now big labor is chiming in and declaring enough is enough...

Labor unions and liberal activist groups plan to throw their weight behind the “Occupy Wall Street” protest in New York City that has now lasted 13 straight days, according to Crain’s New York.

A diverse coalition of people have pledged to occupy Wall Street until something is done about corporate greed and the financial system’s undemocratic influence on the U.S. government.

The protesters have been camped out in New York’s old Liberty Plaza, now called Zuccotti Park, since September 17.

Among unions, the United Federation of Teachers, 32BJ SEIU, 1199 SEIU, Workers United and Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 have said they will participate in the protest next Wednesday.

The Working Families Party, MoveOn.org, Make the Road New York, the Coalition for the Homeless, the Alliance for Quality Education, Community Voices Heard, United New York and Strong Economy For All also plan to support the demonstration.

“It’s a responsibility for the progressive organizations in town to show their support and connect Occupy Wall Street to some of the struggles that are real in the city today,” Jon Kest, executive director of New York Communities for Change told Crain’s New York. “They’re speaking about issues we’re trying to speak about.”

The New York Times described the protest as a “noble but fractured and airy movement of rightly frustrated young people” whose purpose was “virtually impossible to decipher,” and many progressive and liberal groups did not initially embrace the protest.

The support of the “established left” has the potential to explode the numbers of people at the demonstration. TWU Local 100 alone has 38,000 members.
source

Civil Rights Giant Fred Shuttlesworth dies


The Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, the civil rights icon hailed in his native Alabama as a “black Moses” whose fearless courage a half century ago helped lift the civil rights movement from a Southern skirmish into a national crusade that forced America to examine its soul, has died, his daughter has confirmed.

“Daddy lived an incredible life and now he’s at peace,” said Patricia Shuttlesworth Massengill, his eldest daughter. Massengill, along with her sister Ruby Bester and their brother Fred Shuttlesworth Jr., traveled to Birmingham from Cincinnati Tuesday and spent about three hours “praying and talking to” their father, whose once thundering voice was silenced several years ago by a stroke.


Their other sibling, Carolyn Shuttlesworth, visited their father in a Birmingham hospice last week.
Described in a 1961 CBS documentary as “the man most feared by Southern racists,” Shuttlesworth survived bombings, beatings, repeated jailings and other attacks – physical and financial – in his unyielding determination to heal the country’s most enduring, divisive and volatile chasm. read more

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Time For A Labor Party Movement



The Republicans in Washington in recent weeks have been accusing President Barack Obama of waging class warfare. Seems to us that war has been raging for some time -- by both political parties against the middle class.

But we'll let you decide:

• The median gross, inflation-adjusted income of American males in 1968 was $32,137. In 2010, it was $32,137. -- U.S. Census, September 2011 release.

• From 1980 to 2005, more than 80 percent of the total increase in Americans' income went to the top 1 percent. -- Slate, Sept. 3, 2010.

• In 2010, chief executives at the nation's 299 largest companies earned an average of $11.4 million in total pay, 343 times more than a typical American worker. In 1980, CEOs at the 299 largest companies received 42 times the pay of the average worker. -- CNN Money, April 11, 2011.

• Change in the median household wealth of white families since 2005: minus 16 percent. Change in median household wealth of Hispanic families since 2005: minus 66 percent. -- Pew Research Center Social and Demographic Trends project.

read more

Monday, October 3, 2011

Former NBA great Junior Bridgeman - Still living above the rim


Not all former black athletes are crying broke (Terrell Owens) on reality TV. Just check out former NBA baller - who is in fact balling and shot-calling - Junior Bridgeman.

This story came on my radar after watching the GE/Wendy's commericial.

Former NBA star Junior Bridgeman didn’t expect his children to follow him onto the basketball court or into the family business. All he expected was whatever they chose to do they gave it their all - starting at the bottom and working their way up.

After a celebrated career with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers, Junior Bridgeman was working the line at a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant in Milwaukee. “My job was to make sure what you ordered was on your tray and to thank you for coming,” he told an assembled group of active and retired professional athletes hosted by the Allied Athletes Group earlier this year in Atlanta. “A woman came in and looked at me like she recognized me.” He didn’t think anything about it until the next day, when he heard a woman call into a local talk show and say, “I think it’s a shame. I was at the Wendy’s and I saw Junior Bridgeman working behind the counter … if that’s the best these ex-athletes can do…”

A few of the athletes shifted uncomfortably in their seats, and it’s pretty easy to visualize the reaction of today’s pampered NBA stars like Kobe Bryant or LeBron James if that sentiment was broadcast on their turf.

But Bridgeman just laughed. Perhaps, it’s because the last laugh really is his. He owned that particular Wendy’s plus several others. Today his company runs 162 Wendy’s and 121 Chili’s and is No. 3 on the Restaurant Finance Monitor’s Top 200 franchisee-owned companies, with $507 million in revenue. In addition, he has other restaurant deals in the works.
read more

Where's our apology Dick?


It's no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.
Mark Twain


These stories can only take place in a surreal place called 2011 USA GOP politics; a place where a cowboy governor from the star state- and frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination - hunts at a place called Niggerhead.

And now Dick thinks he is owed an apology...

The same former VP who through some Star Trek (Vulcan) mind meld took over the reigns of power from W.

Mr. Cheney, you have been accused of grossly abusing power and the evidence is overwhelming:

War Crimes - Prisoner Detention Abuses - Violation of the Geneva Convention
Lying to get USA support to invade Iraq
Treason - the Valerie Plame Affair - Outing a CIA operative to get revenge against her husband.
War profiting (Haliburton) - the company he was ex-CEO of and that made his fortune for him, received $8 billion in contracts from the Bush-Cheney administration for work in Iraq
source

In a just world, in my opinion, you would be in a detention camp.
So, once again, where's our apology?