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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (86262)	12/3/2010 4:08:58 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 149317

They are going to hold out the unemployment extension as the carrot for the Dems to go along with extending the tax cuts for the rich.

To: Road Walker who wrote (86262)	12/3/2010 11:36:04 PM
From: Jim McMannis	Respond to of 149317

Jealous Spanish cheapskates....? Spain military takes over air traffic control <The dispute intensified in February after the government restricted overtime, cutting the average annual pay of controllers from about euro350,000 ($463,610) to around euro200,000 ($264,920).> news.yahoo.com MADRID – Spain's military took control of the nation's airspace Friday night after air traffic controllers staged a massive sickout that stranded at least 330,000 travelers on the eve of a long holiday weekend, forcing the government to shut down Madrid's big international hub and seven other airports. About six hours after the nation descended into total travel chaos, Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba announced that the Defense Ministry had "taken control of air traffic in all the national territory." He said the army would make all decisions on air traffic control, organization, planning and supervision. If enough controllers do not show up for work Saturday to restore normal flight operations, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero plans to declare a national emergency that would force them to do so, Rubalcaba said. No-show controllers will face unspecified criminal charges punishable by "serious prison time," he said. Spanish flagship carrier Iberia SA said all of its flights in and out of Madrid were suspended until at least 11 a.m. Saturday, but other airlines did not give guidance for when flights might resume. The controllers abandoned their posts amid a lengthy dispute over working conditions and after Zapatero and his ministers on Friday approved a package of austerity measures — including a move to partially privatize airports and hand over management of the Madrid and Barcelona airports to the private sector. Angry passengers waited in huge lines for hours until giving up when it became clear their flights would not depart. Air traffic controllers meeting to plot strategy at a hotel near Madrid's airport were heckled and filmed by stranded passengers as the controllers entered. "To the unemployment line with you all!" one man yelled at the controllers, in footage shown by Spanish National Television. Handfuls of passengers made it out of Madrid to destinations like Barcelona and Lisbon, Portugal, on buses provided by airlines. But the vast majority were forced to go home or to hotels with no information on when they might make their canceled flights. Some slept in the airports. "It's a disgrace, how can a group of people be so selfish as to wreck the plans of so many people?" said dentist Marcela Vega, 35, unable to travel from Madrid to Chile with her husband, 5-year-old son and baby boy. Spain's airport authority, known as Aena, said authorities were in contact with Europe's air traffic agency, Eurocontrol, and the United State's FAA about how best to deal with arriving international flights. Aena chief Juan Ignacio Lema called the sickout "intolerable" and warned controllers to return to work, or face disciplinary action or criminal charges. "We're asking the controllers to stop blackmailing the Spanish people," Lema said. Spain's air traffic controllers have been in bitter negotiations for a year with state-owned Aena over wages, working conditions and privileges. The dispute intensified in February after the government restricted overtime, cutting the average annual pay of controllers from about euro350,000 ($463,610) to around euro200,000 ($264,920).

To: Road Walker who wrote (86262)	12/4/2010 11:15:32 AM
From: Alighieri	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

I don't see how the Reps, even the few who are sensible, can compromise. If they go along with ANY tax increase they'll have the Club for Growth and the other PACs, Rush and the right wing media, the tea party folks all calling them traitors and RINOs. Not healthy. Despite the influence of populist movements like the tea party, the US is solidly entrenched as a plutocracy, and as such remedies to existential problems will only become inevitable when collapse has taken place...we're not quite there yet...despite the debt commission's dire warnings. So look for more of the same...republicans will continue with tax policies that created ZERO net job growth since passage in 2001, and they will argue the same tired argument of the fantastic stimulative effects of tax cuts. Al