Obama Wagers on More Cigars to Win Over Congress on Cuba Embargo - Bloomberg: "President Barack Obama billed opening Cuba as a chance for trade to promote political change, and he’s sending Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker on a trade mission there soon. He’s also wagering that more trade will change the political dynamic in the U.S. Congress. Winning over members of Congress is key, since they’re the only ones who can lift the five-decade-old economic embargo on Cuba or end the broad travel ban. “I believe greater engagement will help more and more Americans understand the economic potential of Cuba and the incredible entrepreneurial capacity of their people,” Pritzker said in an e-mail. “We will do all we can under these actions to unleash that potential.”The approach isn’t unprecedented for the U.S. -- it’s the basis of U.S.-China relations...."
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Showing posts with label Congress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Congress. Show all posts
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Friday, July 25, 2014
Financial Crisis, Tim Geithner, Barack Obama, Congress - Paul Krugman: "we failed, badly"
Forget the book -- read the review (excerpt below):
Does He Pass the Test? by Paul Krugman | The New York Review of Books: ".... the victory over financial crisis looks awfully Pyrrhic. Before the crisis, most analysts expected the US economy to keep growing at around 2.5 percent per year; in fact it has barely managed 1 percent, so that our annual national income at this point is around $1.7 trillion less than expected. Headline unemployment is down, but that’s largely because many workers, despairing of ever finding a job, have stopped looking. Median family income is still far below its pre-crisis level. And there’s a growing consensus among economists that much of the damage to the economy is permanent, that we’ll never get back to our old path of growth... Whatever Geithner may say, it’s clear that a lot more could also have been done to reduce the burden of mortgage debt. Yet we didn’t do what needed to be done... We can argue about how much of the blame rests with the Obama team... But the overall grade seems clear. We didn’t pass the test—we failed, badly."
Does He Pass the Test? by Paul Krugman | The New York Review of Books: ".... the victory over financial crisis looks awfully Pyrrhic. Before the crisis, most analysts expected the US economy to keep growing at around 2.5 percent per year; in fact it has barely managed 1 percent, so that our annual national income at this point is around $1.7 trillion less than expected. Headline unemployment is down, but that’s largely because many workers, despairing of ever finding a job, have stopped looking. Median family income is still far below its pre-crisis level. And there’s a growing consensus among economists that much of the damage to the economy is permanent, that we’ll never get back to our old path of growth... Whatever Geithner may say, it’s clear that a lot more could also have been done to reduce the burden of mortgage debt. Yet we didn’t do what needed to be done... We can argue about how much of the blame rests with the Obama team... But the overall grade seems clear. We didn’t pass the test—we failed, badly."
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Congress, Bridgegate, TPP Fast Track
How Congress Used Bridgegate to Sneak Through TPP Fast Track
Jan 10, 2014 - Abby Martin calls out the corporate media's coverage of Chris Christie and 'Bridgegate' and discusses how this is distracting from Congress sneaking through new legislation that would give Obama authority to fast track the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership.
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Thursday, July 25, 2013
Congress now realizes they've been played as fools by NSA and Obama administration
NSA warned to rein in surveillance as agency reveals even greater scope | World news | guardian.co.uk: "Congressman Ted Poe, a judge, said: "I hope as we move forward as a Congress we rein in the idea that it's OK to bruise the spirit of the constitution in the name of national security.". . .Congressman Spencer Bachus said he "was not aware at all" of the extent of the surveillance, since the NSA programs were primarily briefed to the intelligence committees of the House and Senate. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren revealed that an annual report provided to Congress by the government about the phone-records collection, something cited by intelligence officials as an example of their disclosures to Congress, is "less than a single page and not more than eight sentences"."
Sunday, April 14, 2013
The Problem with the US Post Office is Congress
Congress . . . and the Postal Workers Union (nothing like "political contributions" to members of Congress)--
Post Office Keeps Saturday Delivery Thanks to Congress | TIME.com: It may seem like the United States Postal Service is unwilling to adapt to a world of declining mail volume and increased digital communication. But the real obstacle in the way of true reform aren’t the folks running the postal service itself. It’s their bosses in the U.S. Congress. . . . Read more: http://business.time.com/2013/04/12/the-post-offices-biggest-problem-isnt-saturday-delivery-its-congress/#ixzz2QT9PmwUS
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Post Office Keeps Saturday Delivery Thanks to Congress | TIME.com: It may seem like the United States Postal Service is unwilling to adapt to a world of declining mail volume and increased digital communication. But the real obstacle in the way of true reform aren’t the folks running the postal service itself. It’s their bosses in the U.S. Congress. . . . Read more: http://business.time.com/2013/04/12/the-post-offices-biggest-problem-isnt-saturday-delivery-its-congress/#ixzz2QT9PmwUS
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Friday, January 13, 2012
SOPA and PIPA: take action now
Here’s how you can really oppose SOPA: Stop “raising awareness” and do something | VentureBeat: ". . . We’ve all been concerned lately over SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act) and its sister bill, PIPA (Protect IP Act). But all those petitions we’re signing and websites we’re blacking out might have the effect of preaching to the choir.
U.S. citizens 18 and older should be exercising their privileges by writing letters (or emails) and placing phone calls to Congress. And of course, you can do that free of charge right from the comfort of your couch, thanks to a few online services.
PopVox is one service that will help you contact Congress free of charge. From PopVox’s SOPA and PIPA pages, you can see lists of organizations supporting and opposing the bills, you can read the full text of the bills, and you can tell Congress what you think about both bills. PopVox asks you to include your name and address, then it sends your message of opposition along to the appropriate members of Congress.
If you’d like to take an even more direct route to getting in touch with a member of Congress (or if you want to send a stronger message than just a form letter), you can use the House of Representatives Write Your Representative page (you’ll need to know your ZIP+4, which you can find here). To get in touch with a senator, find his or her name in the Senate directory (don’t worry, there’s a drop-down list of states and just two Senators per state), then contact that member directly from his or her listing. If you’re not shy about getting on the phone, you can call your representatives in Congress directly. The Senate switchboard number is (202) 224-3121, and the House switchboard is (202) 224-3121.
When writing or speaking to a House member, remember to reference SOPA, H.R. 3261. If you’re speaking or writing to a Senator, reference PIPA, Bill S.968.
To learn more about why the Internet is fighting the passage of SOPA and PIPA, read this open letter from Internet founders to Congress. To learn more about why this is our responsibility, too, read this article about Silicon Valley’s role in SOPA."
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U.S. citizens 18 and older should be exercising their privileges by writing letters (or emails) and placing phone calls to Congress. And of course, you can do that free of charge right from the comfort of your couch, thanks to a few online services.
PopVox is one service that will help you contact Congress free of charge. From PopVox’s SOPA and PIPA pages, you can see lists of organizations supporting and opposing the bills, you can read the full text of the bills, and you can tell Congress what you think about both bills. PopVox asks you to include your name and address, then it sends your message of opposition along to the appropriate members of Congress.
If you’d like to take an even more direct route to getting in touch with a member of Congress (or if you want to send a stronger message than just a form letter), you can use the House of Representatives Write Your Representative page (you’ll need to know your ZIP+4, which you can find here). To get in touch with a senator, find his or her name in the Senate directory (don’t worry, there’s a drop-down list of states and just two Senators per state), then contact that member directly from his or her listing. If you’re not shy about getting on the phone, you can call your representatives in Congress directly. The Senate switchboard number is (202) 224-3121, and the House switchboard is (202) 224-3121.
When writing or speaking to a House member, remember to reference SOPA, H.R. 3261. If you’re speaking or writing to a Senator, reference PIPA, Bill S.968.
To learn more about why the Internet is fighting the passage of SOPA and PIPA, read this open letter from Internet founders to Congress. To learn more about why this is our responsibility, too, read this article about Silicon Valley’s role in SOPA."
Tweet Follow @johnmpoole
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