An interview with Wes Jackson..

As everyone scrambles for a solution to the crises in the nation’s economy, Wes Jackson suggests we look to nature’s economy for some of the answers. With everyone focused on a stimulus package in the short term, he counsels that we pay more attention to the soil over the long haul.
 
“We live off of what comes out of the soil, not what’s in the bank,” said Jackson, president of The Land Institute. “If we squander the ecological capital of the soil, the capital on paper won’t much matter.”
 

Jackson doesn’t minimize the threat of the current financial problems but argues that the new administration should consider a “50-year farm bill,” which he and the writer/farmer Wendell Berry proposed in a New York Times op/ed earlier this month. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/opinion/05berry.html

In his Inauguration Speech, President Barack Obama directed these very words to the Muslim world, “To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.” As far as I am concerned, this statement equally applies to the Republican Party since not one of their House members voted yes to the stimulus bill which passed by the Democratic majority.

 

To his credit, President Barack Obama kept his promise to reach across the aisle to the Republicans and what did they do, they slapped his hand.  Some would rather kiss the ring of Rush Limbaugh than do what is right for the citizens of this country.

Kudos to you House Republicans. It's about time you grew a pair. Even though the bill was able to squeeze through not a single Republican bended to the pressure. This gives me new hope in the party and I pray it continues. The economy is only going to get worse and with the Democrats at the helm and spending like it's a disorder it's destined to continue to rot. This means that when all is said and done the GOP will be on the right side of the table. No longer can we sit back and let these fools throw away our money, not without a fight. I know, it seems gloomy but don't give up!

Read more at: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheDailyConservative/~3/dZnEb7-3Foo/

As President Barack Obama made his way to The Hill on Tuesday to meet with House and Senate Republicans to gain their support for the $825 billion dollar stimulus bill, it was met by all of them with the frost that remains days after Pres. Obama was sworn in.  In the spirit of bipartisanship that Pres. Obama is trying to instill in Washington, the Republicans would have none of that.  I would first like to add, weren’t they listening to the American voters on November 4^th, 2008 as they swept Pres. Obama into office with a greater amount of Democrats in both houses of congress?  Wasn’t that a clear signal to all of them, their leadership in D.C. was a failure?  I guess they were still wearing the ear-muffs they wore on Inauguration Day.

 

In the first six years of the former Bush administration, the GOP was in power of both the executive and legislative branches and they expected Democrats to capitulate to their will all in the name of patriotism.  America is staring down a different yet still devastating threat today that cannot be seen and it is up to the GOP to rise to the occasion to show how patriotic they really are in the face of this crisis which has equally imperiled the American people.

By Sherwood Ross

If America ever is going to stop making aggressive war, Americans will first have to get into contact with reality. That’s because U.S. administrations for the past century have periodically frightened the public out of their collective wits. And a frightened nation is a malleable nation, one whose people are susceptible to being led into any struggle. Reversing this is really President Obama's most critical task.
 
Fear: There’s usually been some evil outside force lurking to take away what we have. There was the “Red Scare” during the Wilson administration and Joe McCarthy’s terror during the Truman and Eisenhower years. President George W. Bush gave fear a new twist with his “War on Terror” in which innocent nations were illegally invaded and tens of thousands imprisoned and hundreds of thousands of innocent people killed. In his speech of September 20, 2001, Bush claimed terrorists attacked America because they “hate our freedoms: our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other.”
 

PRESS RELEASE:

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and Richard Shelby (R-AL) announced Thursday that they have introduced bipartisan legislation that would add hundreds of new investigators and prosecutors to the financial fraud units at the nation's top law enforcement agencies in order to expose and punish white-collar crimes that have contributed to the ongoing fiscal crisis.

Schumer and Shelby's bill, known as the Supplemental Anti-Fraud Enforcement ("SAFE") Markets Act, would dedicate an additional $110 million annually for these new hires. The senators said they would seek to pass the additional funding at the earliest possible opportunity.

"Our white collar crime divisions are under-staffed, under-funded, and overwhelmed," Schumer said. "When a wave of violent crime sweeps through a city, the immediate response is to beef up the police forces, putting more cops on the beat, extending overtime, and making sure the city returns to safety. Our reaction to the financial crisis and the massive and complex financial fraud investigations that loom should be no different."

He had political pedigree and little else. He was a child of privilege and entitlement. His name, not his merit, brought him to Yale and Harvard where the affirmative action of legacy provided him slots denied to the more accomplished lacking his royal family’s wealth and heritage.

By Mary MacElveen

Words cannot adequately describe waking up today knowing we have a new president.  At first today felt like just another day where our president was George W. Bush.  But, he is gone, gone, gone and it still seems surreal to me.  It is hard for me to contextualize a country not being led by Bush and Cheney, but here we are with a new reality and to borrow an ad tag-line from McDonalds, “I’m lovin’ it.”

 

After watching both President Barack Hussein Obama and Vice President Joseph Robinette Biden sworn into their respective offices, it was at that moment in time where Bush became the past whose actions will be felt for years to come.

Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-27) announced release of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, comprehensive legislation drafted by the House of Representatives that takes a multifaceted approach to creating jobs and getting the American economy moving again.  The proposed bill includes $550 billion in targeted investments and $275 billion in tax cuts.  Congressman Higgins will be participating in discussions on the plan when the House Committee on Ways and Means meets to markup the bill tomorrow.

 

“This plan is an investment in the American people and our nation’s future,” said Congressman Higgins.  “It rebuilds our economy from the ground up with construction projects that put real people to work and tax cuts that helps middle class families trying to send their kids to school, buy a home or run a small business.  I look forward to continued discussion on this proposed bill and timely action in Congress so we can begin our work building a stronger economy.”

 

By Sherwood Ross

It’s estimated 86,000 workers got fired trying to exercise their legal right to organize a union during the Bush years and signs are Corporate American will fight to keep things that way.

 “We like driving the car,” Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott says, “and we’re not going to give the steering wheel to anybody but us.” (Or share-the-ride with your hires.)

Until now, the surest way to lose your job or get sent to vocational Siberia at outfits like Wal-Mart has been to urge your co-workers to organize. No matter the UN Declaration of Human Rights Article 23 states “Everyone has the right to form and join trade unions...”