Goldman Sachs Can Suck It

from Working Families:

"It seems for some people, the economy isn't all that bad.

Goldman Sachs, which took in billions in federal bailouts, is back in the black. Last week they announced profits of $3.44 billion in the last quarter alone. Now they're planning to spend $11 billion in bonuses to celebrate - about $770,000 per Goldman employee.

It's enough to make the average taxpayer's head spin. Now there's another outrage: the Daily News reported yesterday that Goldman-Sachs could soon receive up to $321 million in city and state taxpayer dollars as part of an incentive program to keep their offices near Ground Zero. That's on top of $1.6 billion the investment firm has already received in publicly backed bonds and tax breaks for its shimmering new downtown headquarters.

Enough is enough. With the economy down and the city and state budget strained, now is no time for corporate welfare. I just joined the Working Families Party's campaign to stop the public giveaway by sending a personal to Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein. Will you join me in asking him to publicly pledge he won't take more public subsidies now that his company is back in the black?

If enough New Yorkers speak out, we can embarrass Blankfein into doing the right thing."

Thanks,

Franke

Remove the Trojan Horse from Global Warming Legislation

the following is from a CREDO petition I just signed:

Dear Friend,

Your representative is about to vote on legislation designed to stop global warming. Unfortunately, members of the House who answer to the worst polluters have succeeded in including a Trojan Horse at the heart of the legislation - a prohibition on Obama's EPA being able to use the Clean Air Act to take additional action on CO2.

This little known, almost secret provision actually guarantees that the United States will fall short of doing what the scientists tell us must happen - a reduction of 80% of CO2 emissions from their 1990 level.

Mr. Obama ran for president on a very strong global warming platform which achieved the 80% reduction, launched a cap and trade market without giving away free permits to polluters, and set strong standards for boosting clean renewable energy. Special interests are warping his pledge almost beyond recognition.

But the worst and most important compromise - and the one most secret and hidden from view - is the crippling of EPA's powers. This is precisely what Newt Gingrich and the Republican-controlled House of the 1990s did to President Clinton's EPA from 1995 on. They simply prohibited EPA from enforcing many laws. We cannot let the House strip President Obama of his most powerful tool to stop global warming.

I just signed a petition to tell my representative to stand up for President Obama's best weapon to fight global warming - the EPA. I hope you will, too. Please have a look and take action.

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/trojan_horse/?r_by=4609-1476850-gZvO7Qx&rc=paste

Bloodthirsty Sarah Palin

I guess former vice presidential candidate [shudder] and current governor of Alaska Sarah Palin was a caribou in a past life, given her relentless vendetta against Alaska's wolves and bears. Not only does she promote aerial hunting (not just allow - she offers a freakin' bounty) she is also planning to gas pups in the den.

Rush Limbaugh Is Still a Big Fat Idiot (And He's Not Alone)

I don't think I will get political too often on this blog, but this is a quick video that bears watching (besides being a little creepy).

"Despite the hysterics of a few pseudo-scientists, there is no reason to believe in global warming."

-- Rush Limbaugh [not a scientist of any kind]

It astounds me that there are still those that would deny the effects of global warming or the steps we could take to reverse it. And that some can't see that green jobs would only be a boon to the economy is flabbergasting.



Send a message by signing the petition here.

Yes He Could, Even Then

President Obama is foregoing the brush-clearing in Crawford, TX and instead heading right into the brush-clearing in Washington, DC. My sister made me aware of these college photos of student Obama. [via Time]

Also, check out yesterday's Recession This! blog post.
Photo by kakisky [via Morguefile]