Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (341500)	1/5/2010 4:21:57 AM
From: FJB	Respond to of 793917

Democratic Leaders Plan Secret Health Reform Deliberations January 04, 2010 05:45 PM ET \| Peter Roff, Bart Stupak \| usnews.com By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog Despite their claims to the contrary, the way that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have handled the healthcare bill has been anything but transparent. And, if the left-wing blogosphere is to be believed, the two congressional leaders intend to keep the deliberations secret as they try to merge the House and Senate versions of the legislation into something that will pass both chambers. The Talking Points Memo website reported Monday that Democrats in both the House and Senate are saying the process will likely follow the path of the House taking up the Senate-passed legislation, amending it and sending it back to the Senate, which will have to pass it again. "This process cuts out the Republicans," a House Democratic aide told TPM, indicating the congressional majority intended to make sure the Republican minority would "not have a motion to recommit opportunity." It also, say those who are following the issue, allows Pelosi to avoid having to cut deals with problematic House Democrats like Michigan's Bart Stupak, who has promised to do what he can to scuttle the final bill if it provides for federal funding of abortions. Henry Waxman, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is saying much the same thing, according to David Dayen at FireDogLake, another prominent left-wing website. Dayen reported that the powerful California Democrat told constituents he would be coming back to Washington Tuesday to begin negotiations with Senate leaders and the White House about what a final healthcare bill will look like—even though the House doesn't come back into session until January 12. According to Waxman, the process for moving will not include the standard House/Senate conference committee, because the motions to select and instruct conferees in the Senate "would need 60 votes all over again." Instead, whatever agreements made could be packaged in an amendment to the bills passed by the House and Senate. By blocking out the Republicans—not to mention House Democrats who object to what the Senate passed—Pelosi and Reid are setting up a protracted game of "ping-pong," in which the legislation goes back and forth from the Senate to the House and back to the Senate again. They may be able to prevail as far as the legislation goes, ultimately, but at enormous cost to their majorities. And that may be the biggest secret of all as far as the healthcare debate is concerned, or at least the one Pelosi and Reid are most concerned about.

To: LindyBill who wrote (341500)	1/5/2010 5:10:26 AM
From: FJB	1 Recommendation Respond to of 793917

Bono gets greedy... ========================================================================== Bono net policing idea draws fire Bono's call was to "rally America...the most creative economy in the world" news.bbc.co.uk Monday, 4 January 2010 Bono, frontman of rock band U2, has warned the film industry not to make the same mistakes with file-sharing that have dogged the music industry. Writing for the New York Times, Bono claimed internet service providers were "reverse Robin Hoods" benefiting from the music industry's lost profits. He hinted that China's efforts prove that tracking net content is possible. The editorial drew sharp criticism, both on its economic merits and for the suggestion of net content policing. "The immutable laws of bandwidth tell us we're just a few years away from being able to download an entire season of '24' in 24 seconds," he wrote. "A decade's worth of music file-sharing and swiping has made clear that the people it hurts are the creators...the people this reverse Robin Hooding benefits are rich service providers, whose swollen profits perfectly mirror the lost receipts of the music business." In a move that drew significant criticism, Bono went on to suggest that the feasibility of tracking down file-sharers had already been proven. "We know from America's noble effort to stop child pornography, not to mention China's ignoble effort to suppress online dissent, that it's perfectly possible to track content," he said. Several commentators assailed both the logic of net monitoring and the economic arguments of the essay, pointing out that U2 topped 2009's list of top-grossing live acts. "Bono has missed that even a totalitarian government...can't effectively control net-content," tweeted Cory Doctorow, a blogger and journalist noted for his study of file-sharing policy. "If only greed and ignorance could sequester carbon, Bono could FINALLY save the planet," he added.

To: LindyBill who wrote (341500)	1/5/2010 5:15:39 AM
From: KLP	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793917

Whoever James Lewis really is, he's got his finger right on the button as far as describing Obama and his cohorts. It would be interesting to know just how many of the Ghost Czars Obama has appointed have backgrounds somewhat like Lewis presented in this paragraph.... The psychology is always the same. It keeps repeating over and over, and only the media can pretend to be surprised. Bill Ayers was a rich kid. Bernardine Dohrn was a rich kid. Barack Hussein Obama's family was not rich, but middle class -- Barack himself was very spoiled, very indulged, and went to all the rich-kid schools. He never had to pay for anything; everything in life was free for BHO. Karl Marx was a rich kid who went bad. So was Pol Pot. The biggest ideological extremists are always the same. They are almost never poor and desperate kids, because poor families raise their kids differently. They have to work and learn about reality, fast. It's always the middle class -- "idealistic," overeducated, confused, culturally estranged, depressed, grandiose, narcissistic, personally troubled kids who become Adolf Hitler. Message 26192034

To: LindyBill who wrote (341500)	2/11/2010 5:30:42 PM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793917

The Left in full cockamammie flight: CNN: Time for Obama to go 'gangsta' on GOP Time for Obama to go 'gangsta' on GOP By Roland S. Martin, CNN Political Analyst STORY HIGHLIGHTS cnn.com • Roland Martin says Obama shouldn't put up with senators who are holding him up • GOP has blocked Obama appointments; Martin says he should go around it • Martin says Obama shouldn't "consider" recess appointments, he should make them Editor's note:Roland S. Martin, a CNN political analyst, is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of "Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith," and the forthcoming book, "The First: President Barack Obama's Road to the White House." He is a commentator for TV One Cable Network and host of a one-hour Sunday morning news show. (CNN) -- Civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer made famous the phrase, "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired." For me, I'm sick and tired of Democrats having power and being unwilling to use it. I've always respected Republicans when they had power because they were willing to use it and maybe apologize later. Today, President Obama walked into the White House briefing room and took some questions, and one of them revolved around recess appointments. He has watched Republicans block many of his appointments, and now he says he made it clear to them that he will "consider" making some when the U.S. Senate goes into recess. "One senator, as you all are aware, had put a hold on every single nominee that we had put forward due to a dispute over a couple of earmarks in his state," President Obama said. "In our meeting, I asked the congressional leadership to put a stop to these holds in which nominees for critical jobs are denied a vote for months. Surely we can set aside partisanship and do what's traditionally been done to confirm these nominations. If the Senate does not act -- and I made this very clear -- if the Senate does not act to confirm these nominees, I will consider making several recess appointments during the upcoming recess, because we can't afford to allow politics to stand in the way of a well-functioning government." This is where the president needs to show his toughness and just do it. Forget the threats. The actions of Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, and other Republican obstructionists will continue if President Obama allows them to run roughshod over him. When you're the top dog, you do what you have to do to govern. Allowing Republican senators to continue to deny your appointments is nonsense. If all of them choose to support a filibuster, then you take it to the American people and show the obstructionists for what they are. You get your grass-roots movement fired up to stand up and do something. The political right used its base to go after Democrats who blocked appointments to the federal bench and other positions. So why not be just as aggressive? If there are members of your own party who stand in the way, such as Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Nebraska, then you also blast them and make them pay for acting so foolishly. This president got rolled by the Senate over health care. His team made some boneheaded mistakes, and now they are paying for them. Continuing to play footsie with opponents will only get him into more trouble. He should set a deadline to have his folks confirmed. If not, appoint them all during the recess and go on about your business. Obama's critics keep blasting him for Chicago-style politics. So, fine. Channel your inner Al Capone and go gangsta against your foes. Let 'em know that if they aren't with you, they are against you, and will pay the price. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roland Martin. Find this article at: cnn.com