Bush Takes up Sword Dancing

While we pay, they play...

Stocks Fall After Bush Announcement

Wall Street didn't take kindly to the economic stimulus plan announced earlier today.

Wall Street resumed its downward trek Friday as skittish investors, unable to hold on to much optimism about the economy, drew little comfort from President Bush's stimulus plan.

Investors had already pulled back from a big early gain, with the major indexes trading mixed as Bush began to speak. By the time the president finished announcing a plan for about $145 billion worth of tax relief, the indexes were well into negative territory.

"It's disappointed in the size of the economic growth package. Wall Street's showing its displeasure," said Kim Caughey, equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh. "Honestly, I think the institutional investors understand the limits to the government's ability to enact economic change."

The Dow Jones industrial average, up more than 180 points in morning trading, was down 85.11, or 0.70 percent, at 12,074.10. The Dow plunged 306 points Thursday amid deepening pessimism about the economy.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 15.40, or 1.16 percent, to 1,317.85, while the technology-focused Nasdaq composite index fell 10.38, or 0.44 percent, to 2,336.52.

Bush Announces Economic Stimulus Plan

This just in.

President Bush on Friday called for about $145 billion worth of tax relief to stimulate a sagging economy and fend off a possible recession.

Bush said that to be effective, an economic stimulus package would need to roughly represent 1 percent of the gross domestic product — the value of all U.S. goods and services and the best measure of the country's economic standing. White House advisers say that, in current terms, 1 percent would amount to around $145 billion, which is along the lines of what private economists say should be sufficient to help give the economy a short-term boost.

Bush and Bernanke Support Stimulus Package

This just out but I wonder if the tired 'tax cuts for the rich' will be the answer again?

President Bush and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday embraced calls for an economic stimulus package to avert recession. Bernanke said such a plan should be quickly implemented and temporary so that it won't complicate longer-term fiscal challenges.

The Fed chief, in testimony to the House Budget Committee, did not embrace any specific provisions or a specific plan. Rather, he spoke to the general concept of an economic rescue package. It is likely that any such package would include tax rebates.

"Fiscal action could be helpful in principle" and may provide "broader support for the economy" than the Fed can furnish alone through reductions in interest rates, Bernanke said. However, he also said that "the design and implementation of the fiscal program are critically important."

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said that Bush "does believe that over the short term, to deal with the softening of the economy, that some boost is necessary. His comments marked the first White House confirmation that Bush, confronting a deepening economic crises that has shaken much of the nation, supports government intervention. Until now, the White House said the president was just considering some type of short-term boost.

Veto of Spending Bill Is Threatened

Here we go again.

The White House budget director warned on Saturday that President Bush was prepared to veto a $500 billion spending package being assembled in Congress if Democrats pushed for too much additional money for domestic programs.

Jim Nussle, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, accused Democrats of trying to tie money for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to what the president considers excessive spending for federal agencies and home-state projects.

“Instead of trying to leverage troop-funding for more pork-barrel spending, Congress ought to pass responsible appropriations bills and the funding for the troops our commanders say they need to build on their battlefield success,” Mr. Nussle said.

Democratic leaders accused the White House of responding hastily to news accounts of the proposal, which is being developed behind closed doors. They said Democrats were determined to devote more resources to national needs like homeland security and law enforcement.

This is absolutely absurd. The Republicans are all over themselves screaming about fiscal responsibility and taking care of the 'people's money' while in the same breath screaming for more unaccountable funds to be sent to the money pit in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is truly amazing that more people haven't caught on to their con by now.

It wasn't that long ago that the Republicans in Congress were spending money like there was no tomorrow. The bloated Highway Bill, passed in 2005, is a perfect example. Let's take a look back.

Even by the standards of Alaska, the land where schemes and dreams come for new life, two bridges approved under the national highway bill passed by the House last week are monuments to the imagination.

One, here in Ketchikan, would be among the biggest in the United States: a mile long, with a top clearance of 200 feet from the water -- 80 feet higher than the Brooklyn Bridge and just 20 feet short of the Golden Gate Bridge. It would connect this economically depressed, rain-soaked town of 7,845 people to an island that has about 50 residents and the area's airport, which offers six flights a day (a few more in summer). It could cost about $200 million.

The other bridge would span an inlet for nearly two miles to tie Anchorage to a port that has a single regular tenant and almost no homes or businesses. It would cost up to $2 billion.

Republicans screaming about the 'people's money'? Hardly! As Rep. Don Young (R) Alaska said at the time,

''I'd like to be a little oinker, myself,'' Mr. Young told a Republican lunch crowd here, taking mock offense at the suggestion that Ted Stevens, the Alaska Republican who is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, directs more pork to their state than he does. ''If he's the chief porker, I'm upset.''

And did Bush go to the fainting couch protesting about the pork laden bill? Hardly! As he said at the time of the signing at a Caterpillar plant

"If we want people working in America, we got to make sure our highways and roads are modern," Mr. Bush said. "We've got to bring up this transportation system into the 21st century."

"I mean, you can't expect your farmers to be able to get goods to market if we don't have a good road system," he said. "You can't expect to get these Caterpillar products all around the United States if we don't have a good road system."

And the con job continues...

Keith Olbermann on the Iran NIE Report

What to say? Keith Olbermann sums it up quite well...

George Bush Job Interview

Constitutional Showdown Looms

Patrick Leahy, the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman said today that he is ready to go to court if the White House continued to resist subpoenas on documents related to the firing of federal prosecutors.

This ratchets up the confrontation looming between the White House and Congress. We will see if the Democrats hold tough (as they should) and force this White House to follow the rule of law.

Domestic Surveillance Documents Subpoenaed

According to Think Progress, the Senate Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed the White House, Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, the Justice Department, and the National Security Council for documents related to President Bush’s warrantless domestic surveillance program. This should get interesting...

A Tragic Legacy

The latest book by Glenn Greenwald A Tragic Legacy: How a Good vs. Evil Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency is one of my must reads for this month. I remember reading his blog Unclaimed Territory first thing in the morning to get an idea of what was really going on in the world of politics. Here is how Amazon describes it:

"What will be the legacy of President George Walker Bush? In this fascinating, timely book, Glenn Greenwald examines the Bush presidency and its long-term effect on the nation. What began on shaky, uncertain ground and was bolstered and propelled by tragedy, has ultimately faltered and failed on the back of the dichotomous worldview—good versus evil—that once served it so well. In A Tragic Legacy, Greenwald charts the rise and steep fall of the current administration, dissecting the rhetoric and revealing the faulty ideals upon which George W. Bush built his policies.

On September 12, 2001, President Bush addressed the nation and presented a very clear view of what was to come—a view that can be said to define his entire presidency: “This will be a monumental struggle of good versus evil.” Based on his own Christian faith and backed by biblical allusions, Bush’s worldview was basic and binary—and everyone was forced to choose a side. Riding high on public support, Bush sailed through the early “War on Terror,” easily defining our enemies and clearly setting an agenda for defeating them.

But once the war became murkier—its target unclear, its combatants no longer seen in black-and-white—support for Bush and his policies dropped precipitously. Glenn Greenwald brilliantly reveals the reasons behind the collapse of Bush’s power and approval, and argues that his greatest weakness is the same rhetoric that once propelled him so far forward. Facing issues that could not be turned into simple good versus evil choices—the disaster of Hurricane Katrina, his plans for Social Security “reform,” and, most ironic, the failed Dubai ports deal—Bush faltered and fell. Now, Greenwald argues, Bush is trapped by his own choices, unable to break out of the mold that once served him so well, and indifferent to the consequences.

A Tragic Legacy is the first true character study of one of the most controversial men ever to hold the office of president. Enlightening, powerful, and eye-opening, this is an in-depth look at the man whose incapability and cowboy logic have left America at risk."