Good morning Christy. 4 degrees overnight here, already up to a balming 8.

Great article Christy. Does the cronyism ever stop?

I’m betting not.

Wooo — we’re up to a whopping 14 degrees here this morning. Break out the beachwear…

No real surprises here, I would guess. But a great time to say good riddance. Counting our blessings…Im sure you can find more about McC as well. Thanks

I heard yesterday on cspan, a seminar on evaluating whether W acheived his goals (mostly yes), done by some academics. During a section when they were talking about how Cheney used the transition to instate all the corporate interests right from the getgo, one of the speakers said that Obama’s bundlers were deeply involved in the transition.

“One of the things that made a Stevens lobbyist so valuable is that he could deliver,”
This is my favorite quote here – just goes to show you how ‘effective’ the whole system worked for Sen. Toobz.
And we’ve declared a Tropical Heat Wave here in Upstate NY – it was 18 degrees when I left for work and the sun is shining brightly!! I may have to break out the sunblock.

I was thinking I might try to dig around a bit and find out which Senators and other members have the biggest cottage industries of lobbying and cronyism around them. Same with Reps. I’d bet its the ones at the helm of commerce, defense and various other committees…as well as appropriations…but I’m intrigued now about the “lobby shop set up solely to lobby a single Senator.” Mind blowingly eggs in one basket of them — yet clearly profitable enough to take that risk anyway.

IMO, public financing of all elections would help. The supremes would never let it happen though because of freedom of speech issues for outside ads.

Oh, and do enjoy the picture of the lovely sign in the Ted Stevens Airport in Anchorage. Thought it was appropriate…

legalized bribery, isn’t that what is framed as lobbying?
I read some where there’s $3 billion spent on lobbying a year. Divide that by 535 congress critters and it dwarfs what we pay the sellouts. I’ve always felt if the congress person has time to meet anyone that should be posted and a line formed to see your critter in public,so the person next could hear what was being asked and given. The bribers can stand in the same line. Funny the honorable people we pay don’t have time to meet with the little people.

I thought that the sign was a joke! lol

It is all sooo ugly…how do you keep your sense of humor? ;)

Those toobz were chock full of money.

-G

In a shocking new story. Barack Obama will get sworn in on the same KoranBible used by Abraham Lincoln on his inauguration day.

Nice touch using the Lincoln bible, I have to say.

I have to laugh. Otherwise, I just run around cranky alla time and that’s just no way to live.

I reacted very negative to that. I thought: what a pompous jerk. No one else has used that bible. It’s all part of Obama’s propaganda that he’s the new Lincoln & FDR rolled into one.

Guess they wanted every one to know so as to be sure it is not the Koran…I better be careful not to start a rumor. But could have been a nice, inclusive touch.

Please…give the guy a break. He is inspired by the Lincoln/Ill. connection….really nothing wrong with that.

Did you mean an embalming 8?

They always announce what the President is using to get sworn in — every year. Usually it’s either a family heirloom bible or something of historical significance to that particular candidate. In this case, given that Obama is the first african-american president in the history of this country — and Lincoln’s significance in that — I can absolutely see why they’d want to use it symbolically as well as personally.

I guess I’m less of a cynic about this one — if it can tug at my heartstrings to think about the enormous significance of the moment, it can certainly tug at Obama’s, given how much of that weight of responsibility will fall on his shoulders as he takes that oath.

Actually, I thought it carried on the example started when Keith Ellison borrowed Thomas Jefferson’s copy of the Koran for his swearing-in photo two years ago. (And now Virgil Goode, who tried to make political hay out of attacking Ellison’s religion — as a cover for attacking his color — is gone from his seat.)

I completely agree…the moment for progress, hope, all those things could hardly have more meaning. I was more in the mind of those who are willing to attribute any misguided information about him.

I’d throw my shoes at Virgil Goode, with relish.

-G

Struck me exactly the same way that W’s Mission Accomplished and speech in front of the blue lit cathedral in NoLa: all scripted splash which hides the lack of substance.

Ditto Obama’s acceptance speech in front of 75,000 with fireworks.

I’d overlook the showmanship if his people choices were better.

Yeah. Both from Illinois, both dinged as having minimal experience (Lincoln had served one term in the US House over ten years earlier and was not a sitting legislator at any level of government when he won the 1860 election), both coming to the White House just as several of America’s long-ignored chickens came home to roost.

No, there isn’t any relish on my shoes.

-G

Wow…I find that so sad. I cannot say Mission Acc/W in the same breath with this occasion.

I’ve seen, in San Francisco, a couple cars with shoe bumper stickers.
No text, just an oxford.

Supposedly over 300,000 of that brand of Turkish shoe have been sold since the shoe-throwing. I’m just hoping that the reporter is alive and in one piece when or if he’s finally let out.

I would think Obama is smart enough to start downplaying expectations if he’s as cynical as you judge. The task before him seems to me to be monumental, growing all the time, and if he fails we’re all really down the shitter.

Ban the Bible. It’s full of atrocities.

People with large egos don’t typically reduce expectations for themselves, smart though that may be.

Look close, it could be a Bruno Magli in honor of OJ’s conviction.

-G

The task before him seems to me to be monumental, growing all the time, and if he fails we’re all really down the shitter
Yup and the MSM will question his every move! After 8 years of Bush’s raiding the treasury for his cronies and raping the constitution; they will now find their voice.

That would be an ego of Mussolini proportions, or greater. If you’re right, I would think we all should start cleaning out and restocking the Y2K bunkers. Given the alternatives, I prefer a few months of blind optimism.

eCAHNomics: Say what?

And then begin to contemplate how that division really occurs — and who gets the bigger pieces of it. And why.

The mind reels…

It’s time for me to put on some holiday music and finish up some last minute baking. Have a good day all. bbl

Have fun baking! We’re thinking about getting The Peanut out of the house for a movie today before she explodes from not being able to open her presents… *G*

Speaking of restocking the Y2K bunkers — anyone else starting to get seed catalogs in the mail? I got a couple yesterday — woo hoo!

It’s worse than you describe. What are the “returns” the lobbiests get on their “investments?” It’s got to be the most lucrative payoff the corps can get. I’m amazed that the whole phenomenon is as small as it is, considering how big the rewards are. (I’m also amazed at how little it takes to bribe a pol.)

The only reason I can think of why it’s not much worse is the old frog boil story. They’re warming up the voters to that kind of corruption little by little.

I haven’t gotten those, but curiously, I’m still getting credit card applications. There’s something I don’t understand.

It was minus 19 deg at our house this morning. High of 8 yesterday. 5 inches of snow last weekend, 14 inches the weekend before. It is winter wonderland in northern Minn this year.
Decades of republican snowjobs & our crappy media have worked well for them. I am constantly flabbergasted & depressed by how many people I know who have bought into all the propaganda. Unions should die, carmakers should fail, all the usual R garbage are parroted by people who will never make much money, getting laid off, losing their health care, etc, etc. It’s bizarre.

I have a CITI card with a perfect record. Shortly after they got bailed out I got a notice they were raising my rates by 4%. A week later I got a mailing offering 0% apr on transfered balances. Figure that one out.

Loud and clear here. My BIL still badmouths unions after a co-worker was laid-off one month before his pension eligibility. Family thinks I’m the nut. *head meet desk*

Aww, they still love you.

“head meet desk”, lol.
My bil has worked for ups for years, close to retiring, & almost froths at the mouth when unions come up in conversation. Doh!

I have noticed that the banks have changed the concept on transferred balances. I have used those many times, transfer a balance for a certain period at 0%, usually 6 months to a year. They used to charge a higher rate for purchases, and none of the payments went towards the accrued balance with purchases until the initial transfer was paid off. So I would just transfer the balance and not use the account for any purchases. 0% loans essentially, just the charge for the transfer.

Now they give you 0% (plus fee) on transfers, but only IF you use the card to make a purchase within the first month or something. And of course the money paid on the account still goes to pay the transferred balance while the purchases accrue interest, as before. I have not noticed that they are setting a minimum for purchases, but that will be next.