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September 30, 2005

Republican Cauldron of Corruption Coming to a Boil

DFH-DeLay-partisan-witch-hu.jpg

When I heard Tom DeLay refer to Ronnie Earle's efforts to bring justice to our fair state as "a partisan witch hunt," I just couldn't resist havin' a little fun! To augment our well-deserved schadenfreude, and to help us keep the players straight without a program, there is a concise recap of all the simmering Republican scandals here.


When I visited CNN's "Situation Room" to find the latest news about Monsieur DeLay, I found that a reporter named Levinson did indeed have some fresh details. However, she could not resist calling Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean "holier than thou" for criticizing the Bugman! Ha! As if 98% of the world's population were not "holier" than DeLay! Fortunately, there was a Comment Box right next to Ms. Levinson's story.

Speaking of criticizing - or, in this case, not criticizing, did anyone notice how Bush's comments about DeLay seem greatly akin to the infamous "heckuva job, Brownie" remarks? (See The Hill.) It must be nice, not feeling any obligation to the reality-based community!

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September 29, 2005

Nail the Hammer to a Billboard.

Don't delay.

Posted by Perry Dorrell at 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Oh Bright Orb...

The usual collection of banal and idiotic state constitutional amendments are on the ballot this November. One in particular is reminding me of the words of Samuel Taylor Coleridge:

Oh bright orb who rules the night,
Removing color from our sight.
Red is grey and yellow white,
But we decide which is right
And which is an illusion.

You poetry fans out there may recognize this as the familiar AAAAB rhyme scheme

"Why do we even have these amendments?" some might be tempted to wonder. Particularly so when some seem so parochial and pointless. But that's your Jacksonian democracy at work, folks. Long ballots, rotation in office, and obscure referenda on governmental minutia is the hallmark of a state that evolved out of reaction to 19th century Reconstruction occupation.

Thus today we have a gazillion and one new amendments that we add to our state's constutution--written with a small c to contrast it with our federal Constitution, which was written wisely and only infrequently amended by idiots. To add confusion to chaos, the ballot language on these amendments often fail to clarify for the voter exactly what the amendment intends to do and what its effects might be.

The amendments typically come in three varieties. First are the harmless county home rule amendments. These are the ones that say "Egypt County, fifty miles north of Amarillo, shall be empowered to combine the constitutionally mandated county offices of Dog-Poop Scooper and Cow-Poop Scooper into one single office holder." I always vote for these because it represents a slight chance that someone might save some money somewhere and because no one would ask for this if they weren't simply trying to run their local government a little better.

Two amendments we're gonna be voting on this autumn fit this category: Propositions Eight and Nine.

Second are the Republican idiocy amendments. This is a fairly new phenomenon. Old style Republicans used to believe in limiting government, keeping their noses out of their neighbor's business, and keeping government acting responsibly. But enough of my soporific nostalgia. The obvious example of this amendment is Prop Two, the anti-gay-marriage amendment. In the guise of protecting families, this invitation to Dante's Eight Circle's First Trench of Hell would damage and disrupt and complicate the lives of thousands of Texas families at the time that they face horrible personal losses such as death, hospitilization, and divorce.

This is worse than bad; it's dumb. A more obscure example of the dumb amendments is Prop Three. It goes:

Ballot Language "The constitutional amendment clarifying that certain economic development programs do not constitute a debt." "Enmienda constitucional que hace la aclaración de que ciertos programas de desarrollo económico no constituyen una deuda."

Brief Explanation
HJR 80 would provide that local economic development program loans or grants (other than debts secured by a pledge of ad valorem taxes or financed by the issuance of any bonds or other obligations payable from ad valorem taxes) do not constitute or create debt. Any provision of state constitutional law that may prohibit or limit the authority of a political subdivision of the state to incur debt does not apply to those loans or grants.

For legal reasons, they want to clarify that certain expenditures that the state makes are not actually going into debt... provided that there's no set plan (such as taxes) for paying off those expenditures. Excuse me for asking a dumb question, But if you spend money and don't have a way of paying it off and, presumedly, have to go to a bank to get the cash to actually pay your vendors, how is that not a debt? Because it's an "investment" instead? If you can't pay off expenses for a "local economic development" are you spared the humiliation of a sheriff's auction?

This redefinition may or may not be good fiscal management. But I have to wonder if behind it isn't just a bunch of Republicans trying to cover up an impending (and unconstitutional) state debt created by the short sighted tax cuts that our previous governor implemented during his term. I suspect it's paper shuffling techniques employed trying to hide debts incurred by bad past management decisions. Or "Enron" for short.

The third variety of amendments are those whose language is so obscure that I just can't figure out what the heck they mean. In those cases I call my momma and she tells me how to vote.

Posted by Bucky at 08:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Bay Area New Democrats toast DeLay's indictment

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Bay Area New Democrats Francis Rankin, President John Cobarruvias, and Margaret Tyler raise a toast to the indictment of Tom DeLay.


"With the indictments of Tom DeLay's associates and now with his own indictment on conspiracy charges, Majority Leader Tom DeLay can no longer pass the political smell test. His corrupt leadership has fouled our Nation's capital and has spread to Texas. It is time for Tom DeLay to step down from his Majority Leader position and resign from Congress." -- John Cobarruvias President BAND

Posted by John Cobarruvias at 07:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 28, 2005

David Murff, Democrat for the 7th

I spent a few minutes earlier this week with David L. Murff, who will challenge DeLay lickspittle John Culberson for the right to represent the 7th Congressional District in Washington.

Murff is a family and criminal law attorney in private practice; he served in the U.S. Army (2nd Armored, 1st Brigade, Fort Hood). He’s a graduate of Western Kentucky University and the South Texas College of Law, a member of the Houston Bar Association and the Texas Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism, and has routinely donated his time as an attorney ad litem to Children’s Friend in Court, a non-profit organization providing legal service to indigent children.

My transcript of our conversation follows.

Q. Why are you running for Congress?

A. As simply as I can put it, I find myself perplexed by the partisan agenda of the people currently in office, and I’m concerned about the direction our country is headed while that narrow agenda is being served.

With all of the challenges we face, in every direction I look -- from the enormous budget deficits to healthcare to energy concerns to homeland security and on and on – what I see is nothing but partisan conservative platitudes, which just seem to be disconnected from the concerns of the average American.

Q. What about Congressman Culberson? Any specific differences of opinion with him?

A. Sure, absolutely. In many ways John Culberson is actually worse than Tom DeLay, if you can believe it, and his statement today in response to DeLay’s indictment is an example of what I’m talking about relative to partisan politics overriding everything else. I would’ve thought that John Culberson would try to distance himself from this growing scandal, or at least be mum about it, but instead he chose to attack (Travis Co. district attorney) Ronnie Earle, whose record clearly shows he’s gone after corrupt politicians regardless of party affiliation.

Regarding the DeLay matter, it will probably drag well into the 2006 election cycle, and frankly I’m not excited about the Democratic Party potentially being the beneficiary of the Republicans’ misfortune. I’m tired of the Republicans portraying Democrats a certain way, and the truth is that the party in power needs to clean up their house and start serving the people instead of the corporations, and maybe this will give them the incentive to do so. If they don’t, or won’t, then that’s a good enough distinction between us to give voters a clear choice.

Culberson voted to relax the ethics rules that enabled DeLay to continue as majority leader up to now, and he also voted for the 11th-hour Medicare provision before he got enough political cover to vote against it. He’s also expressed the opinion that the judicial branch is supposed to serve the will of the President and Congress; that judges should just rubberstamp the laws passed by Congress and signed by the President. As I hear that, it sounds like he’s against an independent judiciary. That’s truly alarming.

I think it would be a good thing if the people of the 7th District had a congressman who actually listens to them, who gets to know them, who understands their concerns and who will look out for them, as opposed to blindly following the instructions of the Republican leadership.

Q. What issue(s) do you feel most concerned about?

A. I think we‘re squandering a tremendous opportunity from a national perspective, and a tremendous resource right here in Houston -- namely the brilliant minds of the Texas Medical Center -- by blocking stem cell research. That’s got to change.

I think we need to get serious about alternative fuels in this country, and I think there’s a lot we can do regarding biofuels.

Q. You served in the Army. What should we do now regarding Iraq?

A. You know, our soldiers didn’t deserve what they walked into over there. From everything that was known at the time, I would’ve probably voted to authorize the use of force, but the lack of an exit strategy going in is simply the best reason why it’s now time to get our boys and girls back home. And if Iraq then degenerates into civil war, then it may take a true national coalition, one built on real alliances, to restore order.

This administration may just not be capable of doing any of that, unless we the people can send them a strong enough message in 2006.

================================================

Murff will have a website up shortly; www.murff4congress.com .

He’s available to speak to clubs and groups throughout the district. Contact his office at 281-335-4777 or dlmurff at sbcglobal dot net .

Posted by Guest Blogger PDiddie at 11:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack

The Coming Fuel Crunch

These evacuations are equivalent to 72.40% of 819 manned platforms and 47.76% of 134 rigs currently operating in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

Today’s shut-in oil production is 1,511,715 BOPD. This shut-in oil production is equivalent to 100% of the daily oil production in the GOM, which is currently approximately 1.5 million BOPD.

Today’s shut-in gas production is 8.027 BCFPD. This shut-in gas production is equivalent to 80.27% of the daily gas production in the GOM, which is currently approximately 10 BCFPD.

The cumulative shut-in oil production for the period 8/26/05-9/28/05 is 37,881,777 bbls, which is equivalent to 6.919 % of the yearly production of oil in the GOM (approximately 547.5 million barrels).

The cumulative shut-in gas production 8/26/05-9/28/05 is 180.560 BCF, which is equivalent to 4.947% of the yearly production of gas in the GOM (approximately 3.65 TCF).

From the Minerals Management Service


The last sentence from the Minerals Management Service should send shivers up anyone’s spine. The total shut-in oil production is almost 7% of yearly totals.


For the last 6 months or so, the oil market has rallied whenever there was news of a refinery problem. US refineries are operating near 100% capacity, and have been for about the last 6 months. As a result, the oil refiners cannot simply shift production to a plant that has extra producing capacity because that plant does not exist.


And the problem won’t go away soon, as Reuter’s reports:

Oil prices jumped more than $1 on Wednesday after the U.S. government said up to 15 percent of the nation's storm-battered refining capacity could stay shut for weeks, rekindling fears of fuel shortages.

Strikes in France, a leading U.S. gasoline supplier, could worsen the problem by hurting Europe's ability to send shipments across the Atlantic, with the biggest French refinery already shut down by a work stoppage.

"The longer these refineries remain shut down, the more serious the situation becomes, particularly with the heart of the winter season just a few months away," the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in a report about the storm-struck U.S. petroleum infrastructure.


As a result of lost production, a winter heating spike is now in the cards. The only question is if the projections of a 30-70% increase were too low.

Posted by Hale Stewart at 08:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tom Delay Indicted!!!!!

http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/metro/stories/09/29trmpac.html

A Travis County grand jury today indicted U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on one count of criminal conspiracy, jeopardizing the Sugar Land Republican's leadership role as the second most powerful Texan in Washington, D.C.

Posted by Lyn Wall at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack

Housing Slowdown Approaching

Housing is the current engine of the US economy. It is responsible for over 40% of recent job creation. Equity extraction is one of the primary ways for consumers to maintain their level of consumption. Therefore, a fall in housing could have a serious detrimental national effect. There is a great deal of speculation about when the housing bubble will end and whether it will end with a slowdown in price escalation or a crash. Regardless of the form, it appears more and more factors are lining up, signaling the beginning of a slowdown.

First, the good news for housing: last month sales of existing homes increased 2%. However, this number is very volatile. It dropped 2.7% the preceding month, and has exhibited a fairly high volatility over the past 12 months. This makes it a fairly poor gage of the overall housing picture.

More importantly is the increase in inventories from the same report. In March, total national inventory was 2,297,000. This number was 2,856,000 last month – a 24% increase in 6 months. It has incrementally increased each month as well, making it appear as though an increasing number of people are looking to sell their houses. The month’s supply of houses has also incrementally increased over the same time from a 4 month’s supply in March to a 4.7 month’s supply last month. The inventory situation does not bode well for the continued price appreciation consumers have come to expect from homes.

More importantly are two factors outside the housing sector. The first was the recent large drop in consumer confidence:

U.S. consumer confidence fell to the lowest since 1992 after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast and pushed gasoline prices to a record high.

The University of Michigan's preliminary index of consumer sentiment fell to 76.9 from 89.1 in August. The reading compares with the median forecast of 85 in a Bloomberg News survey of 53 economists.

The current conditions index, which reflects Americans' perception of their financial situation and whether it's a good time to buy big-ticket items, fell to 97.7 from 108.2 in August. The expectations index, based on optimism about the next one to five years, fell to 63.6 from 76.9 last month.

This drop could be a simple one-month drop related to Katrina. However, the size of the drop is very disconcerting. Consumers would have to have a sharp rebound confidence to return to previous levels. This type of sharp turnaround is unlikely. More importantly is the drop in the expectations index, as this has a direct effect on housing. A house is usually the largest purchase consumers make; they are not going to purchase a house if they think the future is bleak. The drop in the future expectations index indicates a larger percentage of people will most likely put-off buying a house for the next month.

This leads to the second external factor that will negatively impact the housing market: energy prices. Katrina seriously crimped US refining capacity. As a result, the price of fuel derivatives is increasing. Heating oil is 35% higher this October than last October. Natural gas is 44% higher. Unleaded fuel is 50% more expensive. Newspapers across the entire northern US from California to Massachusetts have warned about sharp price increases in heating expenses over the winter. Derivatives prices are likely to remain high over the winter as repairs from Katrina related damage to refineries could take through the end of the year.

High energy prices will harm the economy in two inter-connected ways. First, higher prices will lower consumer confidence or keep it at its current depressed level as consumers feel more and more burdened by this necessary expense. In correlation, the longer energy prices remain high, the more consumers will trim their other expenses and investments – namely housing.

In summation, more people are looking to sell their homes. This will slow price appreciation, probably driving more people to sell their homes, creating an escalating spiral of dumping while prices are still high. Katrina sharply knocked consumer confidence, lowering the possibility that people will be willing to make their largest lifetime purchase. And finally, energy price increases will further crimp already constrained consumer budgets, further lowering housing demand. In short, various elements are lining up to slow the housing market. The main question that only time will answer is the degree of the slowdown.


Posted by Hale Stewart at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Precinct Development Workshop Saturday 10/1

Whether you are presently a Precinct Chair, Captain, Organizer or want to become a Precinct Activist... You should attend the Precinct Development Workshop Saturday, October 1st. Democracy For Houston and the Progressive Populist Caucus will be presenting a FREE workshop filled with useful information and guidelines for ACTIVATING your precinct.

If you have already attended this workshop, we encourage you to recommend it to others. The MORE Precinct Activists we have, the better able we will be to accomplish Governor Dean's goal to "...take back our country, precinct by precinct."

Registration begins at 11:30 a.m. The workshop will begin at 12:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. It will be FREE to all attendees!!! So, be a part of this effort on Saturday, October 1st, and invite others to attend, as well.

The workshop will be held at the Harris County Democratic Party Headquarters - 1445 N. Loop W., Suite 110, Houston, Tx.

Get ACTIVE and reserve your seat today: http://dfa.meetup.com/215/events/4772262/

Posted by Lyn Wall at 08:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 27, 2005

Late-night pundits unload on Our Leader

(Thanks, Bill:)

"Bush is keeping track of Hurricane Rita as it hits his home state of Texas. That's Bush's worst nightmare: an electric chair with no power."

--Jay Leno

"Hurricane Rita is supposed to make landfall in Texas, which is good for Barbara Bush because she can insult survivors closer to home."

--Bill Maher

"Yesterday President Bush made his fifth visit to the area that received the most damage from Hurricane Katrina. In other words, the White House."

--Conan O'Brien

"The president believes the government should be limited not in size, Jon, but in effectiveness. In terms of effectiveness, this is the most limited government we've ever had."

--Daily Show correspondent Rob Corddry

"Now here's some sad information coming out of Washington. According to reports, President Bush may be drinking again. And I thought, `Well, why not? He's got everybody else drinking.'"

--David Letterman

Posted by Guest Blogger PDiddie at 03:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

FEMA's Brownie Does Heckuva Job in Blaming Democrats

As we prescient progressives suspected he might, Michael "Brownie" Brown, exemplar extraordinaire of Republican cronyism, is busily blaming the Democrats for the government's disgraceful response to Hurricane Katrina. His Congressional testimony points the finger of blame at "infighting" between Louisiana's Democratic governor and New Orleans's Democratic mayor. See Yahoo News here. Surely his testimony and his upcoming "Katrina investigation" will not be influenced by the fact that FEMA retains him as a "contractor" and continues to pay his high-dollar salary while he "transitions" out of his former position as FEMA director, right? If you don't trust Bush and Brownie to investigate themselves, please go to U.S. House Representative Louise Slaughter's website to become a "Citizen Co-Signer" on a Congressional Discharge Petition to force the establishment of an independent Katrina investigative commission.

The Katrina response is the terrible fruition of failed Republican policies. An independent commission is the only way to hold them accountable. No doubt, an independent investigation will also uncover more Bush-appointed, Brownie-type cronies, as will the unrelated but concurrent criminal investigations into Tom DeLay-connected lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former OMB procurement chief David Safavian. (See WaPo story entitled "Bush Official Arrested in Corruption Probe" here.) Time to keep the pressure on!

Posted by at 01:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Bonddad versus Tom Delay

Yesterday, Tom Delay wrote an editorial for the Washington Times. He essentially stated he is fiscally responsible and will continue to promote the cause of fiscal responsibility. He argued he and his party are still the party of fiscal responsibility. Let’s see how he stands up to his own arguments.

Having compiled a long record as a conscientious fiscal conservative in the House of Representatives, it is clear that the recent political discussion focusing on the government's spending priorities and overall economic platform in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita has introduced a valuable forum to promote the triumph of our ideas and solutions for government over the crumbling and outdated policies of the Democrat-controlled Congresses of past decades.

Tom, you’re Speaker of the House. That means you are at least partly responsible for the last 5 years of spending. Let’s look at the record, courtesy of the Congressional budget Office. According to the CBO’s historical budget table 1, federal revenues deceased 5% since 2001 – this despite two and a half years of economic expansion that started in the first quarter of 2003. Over the same period of time, federal outlays increased 23% from 1.863 trillion to 2.292 trillion. Decreasing revenues and increased spending appears to be your record, Tom. That doesn’t look conservative to me.

But I’m not the only person who has noticed. The Cato Institute noted:

President Bush has presided over the largest overall increase in inflation-adjusted federal spending since Lyndon B. Johnson. Even after excluding spending on defense and homeland security, Bush is still the biggest-spending president in 30 years. His 2006 budget doesn’t cut enough spending to change his place in history, either.

I’m sure you are thrilled by the LBJ comparison, Tom. David Brooks made the same observation in a recent NY Times editorial.

The federal government spends too much, taxes too much and has yet to develop a more perfect sense of bureaucratic reform. But the evidence shows -- as I have publicly maintained--that progress, though frustratingly slow as it is, is being made because of a determined and cohesive effort by House Republicans to always do better.

Tom, your leadership is now responsible for the government spending too much. The Republicans have been in control of Congress and the Presidency for the last 5 years and all we got was a 2 billion increase in total debt outstanding. You can no longer argue that tax and spend liberals are responsible for bloated government, especially when your party has created the now bloated government.

This has brought about an important level of debate on the vital need to promote fiscally responsible policies in Congress. And I agree that an essential point has achieved consensus in this debate: The current political dialogue on political spending is one that requires a clear declaration of principles from House Republicans. We will continue to display an earnest devotion to the ideals of a smaller, more efficient, better-prioritized government. Flaunting rhetoric on the issue of fiscal discipline will not be enough. The conservative ideals of fiscal discipline and leaner, smarter government require a legislative agenda that can be put into action and enacted into law.

requires a clear declaration of principles from House Republicans.: Tom, your actions clearly indicate your principles: give money to rich people who fund your campaigns. Cut government programs such as FEMA that benefit all people. Borrow money to burden future generations so you, Jack and all your buddies can live high on the hog now.

We will continue to display an earnest devotion to the ideals of a smaller, more efficient, better-prioritized government The fact that President Bush and the Republican controlled Congress have increased domestic spending as fast as that other icon of fiscal conservatism LBJ kind of makes that statement a bit hard to defend.

Our positioning on this issue -- as a party that is strongly identified with the American people as sensible and determined protectors of the hard-working taxpayer -- demands a unified and clear opposition to those whose policies and agendas are hostile to the taxpayer's best interests: Capitol Hill Democrats intent on raising taxes, free-spending special interest groups intent on curing the ills of society by advocating federal dollars as the only solution and a bevy of bureaucrats more interested in an expansion of federal programs than the reduction of ineffective ones.

That’s right. When all else fails, blame Democrats. Sorry Tom. Republicans are now the party of fiscal irresponsibility. Democrats actually make the government work really well for all people, not just our rich donors. Remember Clinton? Whilst getting a blowjob from an aide he also managed to balance his last three budgets and pay down some of the Republican created debt. Republicans have yet to balance a budget in the last 25 years. I would like to state publicly I am very pro-blowjob, especially when it balances budgets and pays down debt.

As for calling Democrats free-spenders, Republicans’ record for the last 5 years clearly states otherwise. Republicans are now the party of free-spending.

While tailoring our focus on the task at hand, our party must also trumpet our accomplishments. So far this year, the House-passed appropriations bills have cut 98 low-priority programs, for a savings of $4 billion and the first real cut in domestic spending since 1987. And this fall, the House will pass mandatory spending savings of at least $35 billion, to bring next year's spending projections in line with the budget Congress passed this spring -- a budget saving plan that was put in place months before Hurricane Katrina brought this debate on spending to the forefront.

Tom, you’re forgetting some of your greatest works. How modest of you. Here, let me help. A war – whose oil revenues were supposed to pay for its prosecution -- that has already cost over 250 billion. An increase in total federal debt outstanding of 2 trillion. A squandering of a budget surplus and the reinstitution of deficit spending. Tom – Republicans have accomplished so much more than you give them credit for.

LINK


Posted by Hale Stewart at 09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack

FEMA Retains Brownie to Investigate Himself

brownie-FEMA-director-graph.jpg

Our creative President has not only enriched the English language by coining new meanings for multiple meaning words, he has also set previously unimagined new ethical standards (downward, that is). Yes, the latest news is that FEMA is retaining Michael "Arabian Horse contest official" Brown on the payroll. He will stay there "as he transitions out of his job" so that he can help "evaluate the Hurricane Katrina response." You don't believe it? Read it here and here. Make the jump to find out about many more "Brownies" in the Bush Administration.

Not content to surpass "Tricky Dick" Nixon, George W. Bush also intends to overshadow the previous recordholder, Republican Warren G. Harding. The cronyism and corruption of Harding's Teapot Dome scandal is indeed a tiny teapot compared to the simmering cauldron of "Brownies" in the Bush Administration. Time Magazine chronicles a few of the most prominent cronies here.

Posted by at 12:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 26, 2005

Anti-War Protest - a Report by Stan Merriman

A REPORT FROM THE ANTI-WAR PROTEST
FRONT LINES IN D.C. SEPT. 24

Believe it. There were a MINIMUM of 300,000 people there according to the Park Police…..more likely 500,000. And that was with all the trains from the NYC area 3 hours late due to “repairs” !

Some stunning moments: we saw a crowd of demonstrators surrounding a young marine in full dress uniform at the pre-march rally who said he was there to lend his voice. As the march formed to step out about an hour late due to the crush of people making organization difficult, leading the march were Cindy Sheehan, Jesse Jackson Jr., Julian Bond and a host of other activist leaders. In the front ranks were the Gold Star Mothers for Peace, followed by Military Families Speak Out and then my group, the Veterans for Peace. I was so proud to be in the ranks of this superb group and it was huge. Naturally, we did outstanding cadence marches and chants sure to burn the Bushites. Behind us, a Native group all the way from Alaska with their drums and ritual dancing and another group from the Lakota Nation who gave Cindy Sheenan a beautiful hand-made quilt with their Star of Bravery design at the concert later in the day. As the march progressed, snaking around Pennsylvania avenue and adjoining streets, we passed in front of the White House and rendered appropriate middle finger salutes. Yea I know, the Bushies were off directing the Rita relief effort (yea, right) but the snipers on top of the White House saw us and got the idea.

Huge crowds all along the route especially applauded our Mothers and Veterans sections of the march. Virtually every state was represented with massive numbers, 5 times more than the United For Peace and Justice leaders had hoped for.

Cops were benign and unlike our Houston Police, bent on redeeming their earlier suppression of free assembly by cutting us much slack. The signs and costumed groups as well as drumming corps were awesome and the most creative I have seen. I bought a car magnet that says: “Ok, let’s pretend everything is all right”. The size of the march was so huge we were packed in like sardines for most of the route and the snaking procession went on for hours, even after the speeches and entertainment started later in the day at the Washington monument. Counter demonstrators? Oh, maybe 50. Media, Oh, maybe none. I heard Arron Brown, CNN say “ I am getting furious email…..but people have to understand that THE story is the gulf coast” ! Yea, we know, CNN has turned into a one story pony since Turner retired. Washington Post and New York Times did give us good front page coverage and acknowledged the massive turnout of 500,000.

At the rally later in the afternoon, with a massive sound stage we heard speakers like Cindy, Jim Hightower and Jesse Jackson. And marvelous protest music from, among others Joan Baez and Steve Earle. The Merriman’s left at around dinner time, exhilarated and exhausted and so grateful to be in the company of fellow Americans who love our country enough to once again get out in front of our leaders, including fellow Democrats to end yet another unjust and immoral war waged in our name.

Stan is the Chair Emeritus of the Progressive Populist Caucus.

Posted by Lyn Wall at 08:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

We Are Not Safer - by Amy Branham

Amy Branham, Houston's own Gold Star Mom for Peace offers this great post on the Rita experience and the state of our national security.

Houston, Texas. Hurricane Rita has come and gone from Houston. I am happy to report that all of my family and friends came through the experience alive and unscathed physically, but I think emotionally we’ll be feeling the after effects for a very, very long time. This past week has been an emotional roller coaster for all of us.

We started making preparations for Hurricane Rita Tuesday afternoon when we began to realize that the Texas coast was the most likely target for Hurricane Rita to hit. My family lives about 70 miles inland from the Gulf Coast, in far northwest Harris County, but damage from a hurricane can be devastating this far inland and even further, as we have all seen. Jim, my husband, took off work early and came home to begin making preparations on the house, and I took the rest of the week off work to do the same. We went to Home Depot, where there was a rush on plywood. We were fortunate enough that in our part of town, not everyone had swamped the store yet to board up their windows. We were able to get enough to cover all of our windows, but it cost us nearly $400 to do it.

Earlier in the day Jaime and I went to the grocery store to stock up on supplies. The shelves were completely empty of any kind of water and most canned goods were sold out. Just before we left, a delivery of bottled water was brought into the store, and we were able to grab three cases. Later, we were busy trying to decide what was most important for us to take with us when we left home. My daughter, Jaime, and I were also busy packing irreplaceable possessions as best we could and putting them in the safest place in the house with the hope that they would still be there when we returned.

At the time Rita was only a category 3 or 4.

Wednesday morning we cancelled our plans to go to Washington DC for the peace rally. I made the phone calls I needed to make to let Gold Star Families for Peace members know we wouldn’t be joining them for the rally. I sure wish we could have been there. All accounts report an awesome display of patriotism and peace. I am so very, very proud of the citizens of this country who are finally catching on!

We worked all day to get the house boarded up so we could get out of Houston as soon as humanly possible. Wednesday was an emotion packed day. Before my son died, he said “Mom, if anything happens to me while I’m in Iraq, I want you to take the life insurance money I’m leaving you and buy a house.” Jeremy knew that I had never owned a home of my own and never, in my whole life, been able to settle anywhere for very long. So, the prospect of leaving my house, Jeremy’s last gift to me, knowing that in all likelihood, we would return in a few days to nothing, was heartbreaking. When I am in my home, I feel Jeremy’s loving arms around me, protecting me the best he could, just like he tried to do when he was alive.

By this time, Hurricane Rita had been upgraded to a Category 5 hurricane.

We fought the stifling heat of the day (100 degrees) to get the house boarded up. My husband was climbing up and down ladders all day trying to get the job done. I finally had to make him take a break when the hottest part of the day hit, worried that he would suffer from heat stroke. We figured we had plenty of time to get the house boarded up, the cars packed and head out of town to stay with our friend in the San Antonio area.

I cried myself to sleep in the wee hours of Thursday morning, thinking I was sleeping in my home for the last time and that I would never see it again.

Thursday morning we started watching the news. Sometime in the afternoon we realized that there was absolutely no way we could safely make the trip out of Houston and on to San Antonio and safety. My oldest daughter, Danielle, and her friends left our house at 11:00 p.m. Wednesday night headed to Killeen, Texas. A trip that should have taken, at the most four hours, took them eleven. Reports from other friends who had left the city told of being on the road nine hours and only traveling twenty miles. Others told stories of being in the car anywhere from 18 to 24 hours and longer to drive two hundred miles. Journeys that never should have taken more than six hours – even given heavy traffic conditions, took a toll on many. There was not so much as a gallon of gasoline to be found within a hundred mile radius of Houston. There were no food supplies left as grocery stores and convenience stores closed their doors. Banks and ATM’s were running low on cash as customers withdrew money from their accounts.

Worst of all, there were no shelters along the way for travelers to take refuge. Weary refugees were running out of gas and abandoning their cars. Pets died from dehydration. There was very little to no help for hundreds of thousands of the refugees.

So, Jim, Jaime and I had to make the call as to whether or not we would be safer at home or on the road with a one-month old baby. Given the back up of traffic, we had no confidence whatsoever that we would make it out of harm’s way before the hurricane came ashore. Our cars were full of gas, but we knew that with the back up of traffic, we could run out. To avoid overheating their vehicles and to conserve fuel, many refugees weren’t running their air conditioners, had no water, and became dehydrated in the heat. We just couldn’t put ourselves or, more importantly, Baby Aiden, in that kind of risk.

By this time, the predicted hurricane course had shifted to the East somewhat, so we felt relatively confident that we could ride the storm out. It had been downgraded to a Category 4, which made us feel a little less uneasy, but we were still all scared and stressed. After much discussion, we decided that we would be safer at home than we would be on the freeway. We knew that the hurricane could shift and come back to the west, but we felt that staying home was the only real option we had.

Now, I know that many people in Houston and the surrounding areas had to make the same kind of decision we did. Ours is just one story among hundreds of thousands. My family is among the lucky because our house was just on the very outside edges of the storm. The winds here were not damaging, we got very little rain and only lost our electricity for a few hours. For us, the storm ended up being only a minor inconvenience in our lives.

But what happens next time? Houston lucked out with Hurricane Rita, as we have all seen by the news reports far East Texas and Louisiana. What if Rita had come ashore at Galveston and on into Houston and the surrounding areas?

Today, as I sit at my keyboard, I feel it’s time to start asking some really tough questions of our city leaders and of our federal government at the highest levels, which includes King George & Co. Why wasn’t there a better evacuation plan in place and why wasn’t it implemented sooner? Why weren’t shelters of some sort set up across the city for residents to go to who were not able to escape the impending disaster we believed was coming?

King George’s Department of Homeland Security is an utter and complete failure, as has been proven by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. FEMA is in shambles and the Red Cross isn’t faring much better. Funds that should have been used to take care of the citizens of this country and make us safer have been siphoned off to other programs, leaving FEMA nothing more than a shadow of what it previously was. The citizens of this great country have been told over and over again that we are safer today than we were four years ago when terrorists struck our country. We have been lied to. We are no safer today than we were then.

The war in Iraq is a disaster that never should have been. Thousands upon thousands of lives have been lost for no good reason.

In the meantime, King George is still running away from his problems, refusing to acknowledge that he is wrong or to listen to those who do not agree with him. He has been crisscrossing the country, doing his best to prop his image up after the government badly mismanaged relief and rescue efforts with Katrina.

It’s time for the American citizens to take back control of our country and our government. It’s time to remind our public servants, and by that I mean the President and his administration, Senators, Congressmen and woman, et al. that we are their bosses, not vice versa. We put them where they are to serve the public good, and they have not done so. They have severely abused their power for way too long. Because of this, we now have a President who doesn’t know how to lead the country and who has gotten his way every step of the way for way too long.

Every day more and more people are standing up and asking the tough questions, demanding the answers our leaders have not wanted to give. Americans are not stupid and we know what those answers are. We want to hear them come out of the mouths of the so-called leaders who have put us in this situation.

It’s time to end the war in Iraq and use the money to rebuild our storm ravaged country. It’s time to get King George & Co. out of the White House and hold them accountable for their unconscionable actions. It’s time for a Revolution of the every day American citizen! Give our country back to us and bring our soldiers home!

Amy Branham
Houston, TX
Mother of Sgt. Jeremy R. Smith
Nov. 1981 – Feb. 2004

Posted by Lyn Wall at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Cindy Sheehan Arrested in Washington D.C.

Well, the last few weeks have proven that our Republican Administration does not respond too swiftly to protect citizens from natural disasters. We can rest assured, however, that the Administration has urged law enforcement to waste no time in protecting us from those insidious war protestors. Yahoo News tells about Cindy's arrest here.

Look below the fold for a short note from our Houston area Gold Star Families for Peace member, Amy Branham, about some of those who were arrested with Cindy.

This is Amy's brief note:

I just heard from Dante Zappala. He says that along with Cindy arrested were Al and Celeste Zappala, Dede Miller, Joan (Baez I assume). Still awaiting word on the others...

We will pass along any further information that we receive from Amy later today.

Posted by at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 25, 2005

My weekend with Rita

Man, what a buzzkill she was. Thursday, 9/22:

Rita on the rocks, no salt, and Friday, September 23: Rita Watch.

Posted by Guest Blogger PDiddie at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 23, 2005

Open for Business in Houston

I drove around West Houston for about an hour to see what was open for business, and thought I'd share for anyone who needs to pick up more food, gas, or wants a chance to get out and about before it gets bad here.

Bistro Provence on Memorial near Kirkwood
Food Store on Memorial inside Beltway 8
Shell on Voss between south of Memorial has gas
Chevron Westheimer at Voss has gas
Dumpling King (didn't get address - Probably on Westheimer near Voss)
Sunny's Food Store in the same area
Exxon Chimney Rock near Westheimer has gas
Fox and Hound bar Woodland Hills center on Westheimer and grill is open
Godfather's Pizza on Westheimer, Carrillion shopping center is open for dine in buffet only
Spec's 11990 Westheimer
Adam Halal grocer 12280 Westheimer

For those who need prescriptions, I heard on the radio that CVS in Conroe is open.

We'll be riding out the storm gourmet style due to Spec's and Adam's halal!

Be careful out there.

Guest Posted by Lisa

Posted by Lyn Wall at 01:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Dems - Please check in here!

After a hellatious attempt at evacuating to Austin yesterday, we ended up back in Houston. It took us an hour to backtrack over what had taken 15 hours to get to. We're on the West side of town - safe and well stocked. Please let us know how you are faring.

I have a friend in Laredo who plans to bring in supplies next week if we need them. Post your needs here. All comments posted to this address will be sent to me with an email address, so if you express a need, I'll try to respond as long as I have email access.

Also, the Specs in the 11000 block of Westheimer (between Kirkwood and Dairy Ashford) is open as of this minute.

Stay safe everyone!

Posted by Lyn Wall at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

September 22, 2005

Representing the Homeless, the Inundated, the Destroyed, and the Dead

It now seems that we in Houston / Harris County may be spared the brunt of Rita. This might be a good time to make sure that Bush and the Republicans are held accountable for the "drown the government in the bathtub" policies and corrupt cronyism that led to tragedy for the victims of Rita's predecessor, Katrina. In a heartbreaking twist of fate, some of Katrina's victims may become Rita's victims, too. Of course, President Bush has decided that the road to accountability lies in allowing his Administration to investigate itself.

In an eloquent letter to the President, two Democratic Congressmen beg to disagree. For the sake of "the homeless, the inundated, the destroyed, and the dead" in their Katrina-ravaged districts, Gene Taylor and Charlie Melancon call upon Bush to abandon his sham investigation and establish an independent commission to find out what went wrong. See this heartfelt letter here, and look below the jump to see what we can do to help these legislators hold the Republicans' feet to the fire.

Here are some areas for action:

Posted by at 09:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Huh? What's going on here?

I think I woke up in some bizarro universe this morning. I go into work and the whole dang school's locked up. This IS Thursday, isn't it? That's what my computer says. But when I turned on the radio this morning to public radio KUHF, they were playing the TV news from Channel 13, the ABC affiliate.

Damn those Republicans and their privatization of the entire non-profit sector!

Oh, but it gets weirder. My commute to work was really bizarre coz they shut down the freeway so people could, get this, drive on the wrong side of I-45! Man, that was inconvenient. Too bad, too. Because if there's some big holiday going on I wasn't aware of, I think it'd be fun to head on down to Galveston and enjoy the beach.

Dude, is there something going on that I'm missing?

Posted by Bucky at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 20, 2005

Lovely, Rita

You messed up my interview/blog post with David Murff, the challenger to John Culberson in TX-07. Maybe next week (if the roof doesn't fly off my place).

Everybody should have an evac plan right about now ...

Hello? ... Anybody there? ...

Posted by Guest Blogger PDiddie at 05:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday 9/23 - Petroliana

PETROLIANA

A petroleum based exhibition exploring the impact of oil on our culture.

From the icon of the automobile to the injustices of war,

PETROLIANA studies various aspects of petroleum product

as a medium for expression.

THE ART CAR MUSEUM

www.artcarmuseum.com

140 Heights Boulevard

Houston, Texas

Opening September 23rd 7 -10 pm

BUTCH JACK

THE ALTER GIRLS Alicia Duplan & John Linden

MICHAEL FRY

Artists of CODE PINK HOUSTON

Posted by Lyn Wall at 08:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Somebody's getting fired over this

Let's make it be Lamar Smith:

"Immigration needs to be considered in the context of: (1). Media Bias, (2). Animosity toward the president and (3) the feelings of the Republican base."

Here's a little background on the radical right-winger representing TX-21, for those of you who may not be familiar:

a.) He's one of Tom DeLay's best buds in Congress. He has raised money for, and taken money from, the slimepit that is TRMPAC, and he donated $10,000 to La Cucaracha Grande's legal defense fund.

b.) He also came to The Federal Government's rescue by replacing a "moderate Republican" -- yes, I know it's an oxymoron -- on the House ethics committee, which we all know is the hardest working in all of Washington.

c.) Lamar Smith has been on a crusade to rid the nation of the scourge of illegal aliens since at least 1996 -- years before it became fashionable for brown people to be openly blamed for American society's ills -- when as chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, he authored the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. (You can read more about it here, in a four-year old article which highlights the first matchup between Smith and his repeat challenger, John Courage.)

The Supreme Court has been busy overturning much of that legislation ever since.

Speaking of bad legislation, Lamar loves -- realllly loves -- the USA Patriot Act.

d.) Smith lists a condominium as his 21st District address, but he spends most of his time away from Washington at a $3.5 million estate on Cape Cod (apparently he prefers Massachusetts liberals as neighbors over Texans, even if both are mostly rich and Caucasian).

e.) And his goal is to become chair of the House Judiciary committee, where he's chomping at the bit to take care of those "activist judges".

The Congressman recently had a rough reception at his town hall meeting in the district, so it appears that his contituents are wising up to him.

Want to know more about the man running against him?

While this race is outside the purview of this blog's typical readership, any friend of Tom DeLay's is no friend of ours. We'd like to see him retired as much as his Bug-hole buddy, and the same goes for all the rest. Coast to coast.

Besides, they've all got lucrative careers as lobbyists waiting.

Posted by Guest Blogger PDiddie at 07:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 19, 2005

Bill White and the Meyerland Dems

Over a hundred party loyalists and activists turned out this evening to hear the mayor talk about his Katrina experiences, the flood control projects ongoing and the upcoming municipal elections.

Candidates spotted in the audience included city council hopefuls Peter Brown and Mark Lee, state district 146 challengers Borris Miles and Alfred Bennett, and newly announced CD-07 Democratic candidate David Murff.

Here are some quotables:

"The city of Houston absorbed about 150,000 evacuees, and did so with grace."

"1500 members of Houston's Islamic community served meals to New Orleans evacuees. On September 11th."

"Tens of thousands of evacuees have been put into apartments that weren't even furnished ten days ago. The city signed 201 agreements with apartment complexes (throughout the city for assisted housing) in one day, and FEMA has already reimbursed. The City of Dallas called and wanted to know what form to use." (lots of laughter)

I couldn't get his precise words transcribed, but White mentioned that the massive flood control construction projects (including the advance work, like expanding the flood plain) that today have Kirby Drive ripped open twenty feet deep began shortly after Tropical Storm Allison did her damage to the Medical Center ten years ago now. Looks prescient right about now (and hopefully still will a week from now, to more nervous chuckles).

It's no overstatement that Bill White is the most powerful Democrat in the state of Texas at the moment.

And that's only for the moment.

Posted by Guest Blogger PDiddie at 09:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Bush: "Biggest Spender Since LBJ"

Boy I wish I had come up with that title. But I didn’t. It comes from the Cato Institute’s report The Grand Old Spending Party. This report is absolutely devastating to the current Republican leadership of this county because it demonstrates one fact very clearly. The Republicans can no longer claim the mantel of fiscal conservatism; they spend in a manner far worse than those “tax and spend” Democrats.

Just to really illustrate the difference between these parties – and to really tick off Republicans – let’s compare Bush to Clinton.

Budget as a Percentage of GDP

At the beginning of Clinton’s term, the Federal Budget was almost 22.5% of GDP. By the time he left office, that percentage was a little under 18.5% -- a net decrease of 4%.

At the beginning of Bush’s first term, the Federal Budget was a little under 18.5% of GDP. Currently, that percentage was a little under 20.3% -- a net increase almost 2%.

Growth Rate of Government Outlays

Under Clinton, the real annual growth rate of total government outlays was 1.5%.

Under Bush, the rea
l annual growth rate of total government outlays is 5%.

Growth Rate of Non-Defense Spending

Under Clinton, the real annual growth rate of non-defense and non-homeland security spending was 2.1%.

Under Bush, the real annual growth rate of non-defense and non-homeland security spending was 4.8% -- over twice Clinton’s increase.

The result of this Republican spending spree is a ballooning of the Federal Deficit. When Bush was elected, the total federal deficit was 5.8 trillion. Now it is nearly 8 trillion – an increase of 38%.

The Cato Institute is not the only Republican organization to begin chaffing at the bit over Republican spending. From Fareed Zakaria’s Leaders Who Won’t Choose

Whatever his other accomplishments, Bush will go down in history as the most fiscally irresponsible chief executive in American history. Since 2001, government spending has gone up from $1.86 trillion to $2.48 trillion, a 33 percent rise in four years! Defense and Homeland Security are not the only culprits. Domestic spending is actually up 36 percent in the same period…."throughout the past 40 years, most presidents have cut or restrained lower-priority spending to make room for higher-priority spending. What is driving George W. Bush's budget bloat is a reversal of that trend." To govern is to choose. And Bush has decided not to choose. He wants guns and butter and tax cuts.

It also appears Republicans are starting to distance themselves from Bush’s spending recklessness (which they enabled and egged on):

Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., said there is a need for dramatic spending cuts in "big-ticket items."

"We haven't been disciplined enough over the last 10 years. We need to do that, and we needed to do that before Katrina. We still need to do that over the medium and long term," Vitter said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said an across-the-board cut in spending, excluding defense spending, would be appropriate.


"We're failing when it comes to controlling spending," Graham told "Fox News Sunday."


Republicans are now the party of fiscal irresponsibility. How can they go to the voters and now claim they’ve seen the light? Their previous actions – especially when compared to the fiscally responsible Clinton – speak louder than their words. They spend recklessly, passing the bill to our children.


Posted by Hale Stewart at 08:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 18, 2005

Red Elephant Alert: Take Action to Halt Latest Republican Travesties

HCDP-blog-red-elephant-aler.jpg

As we Houstonians pitch in to help with Katrina relief efforts, outrage fatigue may easily overcome our appetite for political activism. Yet while the pictures which speak a thousand words about their failed policies inundate the mainstream media, Republicans are using the opportunity to mount more stealth attacks on everyday Americans. Yes, we have definitely entered "Red Elephant Alert" territory. (See chart above, based loosely on the Department of Homeland Security's Terror Alert System.) Here are just three of many targets in the Republicans' latest broad-based stealth attack:

Join me below the jump to find out how to take action.

TomPaine.com tells why we need an independent investigation into the federal government's response to Katrina here, and MoveOn provides us with a petition to demand one here. This is IMPORTANT, folks. Without an independent investigation, the Republicans will once again slither away without being held accountable for their callousness, cronyism, incompetence, and corruption.

To learn more about Bush's unconscionable suspension of the Davis Bacon Act, see the Washington Post here. If you have right wing friends or relatives who would not believe that their President could snatch much-needed dollars from the pockets of hurricane-afflicted workers while lining the pockets of his corporate cronies, point them to the President's own proclamation here. Naomi Klein of The Nation seems to be thinking more clearly about how to treat workers who will be involved in reconstruction efforts, as shown in this article that she wrote for The Guardian. Unfortunately, I have not yet seen any petitions calling for Bush to rescind his suspension of Davis Bacon, but that does not mean that we cannot write our Congress persons and media outlets.

All of this brings us back to our third Republican stealth attack: the sneaky, Tom DeLay-enabling rider on the Transportation bill. When the nonpartisan League of Women Voters issues an alert, you know it is serious. (See alert and take action here.) Katrina has shown us the results of Tom DeLay's pre-hurricane pay-to-play politics in bold relief, as FEMA and levee reconstruction funds were cut in favor of more pork for DeLay's lobbyist pals. Do we really want to allow this proposed Leadership PAC loophole to further enrich the Bugman's coffers?

In his book God's Politics, preacher and author Jim Wallis quotes a friend who was exasperated with people who were waiting for another Martin Luther King, Jr., etc., before taking action. She said, "We are the ones we have have been waiting for." Yep, we are ... so please, visit the links above, or just write your own LTEs, write your own Congress critters, or take other action so that we can hold the Red Elephants accountable and avoid another 2002 in 2006!

Posted by at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The Bush Economy's Consumer Debt Explosion

The economy started expanding in the first quarter of 2003. Where is the money to pay for this expansion coming from? According to statistics from the Bureau of Labor Services, non-supervisory wages are near stagnant since 2000. US savings is at 0%, and have been decreasing since the early 1980s. So consumers’ increased spending isn’t from an increase in wages or money they put aside for a rainy day. That leaves one source: debt. Steve Church has done a great analysis from the Federal Reserve’s Statement of Financial Flows, which clearly demonstrates debt is the US consumer’s main source of new money for expenditures.

The analysis uses a corporate cash flow model. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this accounting format, it essentially states where money for a specific period comes from and goes to. Every year, money comes in from a variety of sources and is paid to a variety of activities. The cash flow statement shows where money comes from and where it goes.

For those of you who have detailed knowledge of a cash flow statement, you will notice that I am simplifying certain definitions for the lay-person. This is not supposed to be a presentation to a group of MBA’s, but a presentation to a group of non-MBA’s so more people can understand what is going on beneath the surface of the US economy.

I have summarized the cash flow statements for ease of reading purposes. If you want to see the spreadsheet, go here.

The figures below from the Federal Reserve’s Statement of Flows:

2003

Savings: Households net operating assets in 2003 were 357 billion dollars. This is the total of savings and depreciation additions.

This is where a cash flow statement starts. It presumes people will spend first from what they already have.

Investment: Households net financing activities in 2003 were 1.142 trillion dollars. This is the total of mortgage, savings and other investment activity.

This tells us what consumers spent their savings on. This is money the consumer spends during the year.

Financing: Households net debt acquisition in 2003 was 866.9 billion. This is the total new debt minus repaid debt.

Outside of savings, this tells us where consumers got the rest of the money they used during the year.

2004

Savings: Households net operating assets in 2004 were 365 billion dollars. This is the total of savings and depreciation additions.

Investing: Households net financing activities in 2004 were 1.341 trillion dollars. This is the total of mortgage, savings and other investment activity.

Financing: Households net debt acquisition in 2004 was 1.044 trillion. This is the total new debt minus repaid debt.


Let’s look at these numbers in a bit more depth.

First, before we get to the top line of the cash flow statement, we’re going to add another figure: wages. If wages increased significantly, than it is possible the wage increases were used to finance the national economic expansion. According to the Bureau of Labor Services, wages for non-supervisory employees have grown 4.35% from January 2003 to December 2004. Over the same time, inflation increased 4.67%%, making inflation adjusted wage growth a -.32% from January 2003 to December 2004. Because consumers aren’t making any more money, increases in wages are not responsible for consumer purchases during the period on the cash flow statement (2003-2004).

The top line of the statement is for savings. “In the strictest definition, savings are that part of your production that is in excess of your consumption.” In other words, savings is what is left over after you pay your bills and other expenses. Depreciation is added to operating expenses because depreciation is essentially an accounting method of allocating the cost for a capital over that good’s expected useful life. This allows a purchaser to allocate the cost of a capital good more effectively. While a depreciation deduction technically lowers your operating income for tax purposes, you don’t really pay the money allocated to depreciation. Therefore, from a cash flow perspective, depreciation is added back to monthly operating income to determine monthly operating income.

You’ll notice that cash flow from operating activities is positive. This means what you would think it means: that after savings and depreciation, consumers added money to their personal stash of money from savings and depreciation.

The next big area of the cash flow statement is from investing activities. Loosely defined and investing activity is one that will hopefully increase cash flow in the future. It shows there was a net cash outflow to investing activities greater than the cash inflow from operating activities. This means that after money from operating activities, (savings + depreciation) and money spent on investing activities, household’s cash balance is negative.

So, how do households make up this difference between investment activities and operating activities? They borrow heavily.

The third section of this annual household cash flow statement reveals a very important reality of the current expansion. After deducting annual totals for repayment of debt, households are borrowing between 2.5 (2003) and 2.85 (2004) greater than their income savings.

However, that is not the scariest conclusion the paper draws.

This paper analyzes the sources and uses of household cash flow. We use the basic corporate cash flow statement format to identify operating, investing, and financing cash flow. In order to meet current financing and investment requirements, we discover that households need to generate new cash equal to at least 13% of GDP every year.

Prior to 1993, the sources of household cash flow were split about 55% from income and 45% from new debt. Beginning in 1993, new debt increasingly became the source of cash flow. In 2005, new debt of about 12% of GDP should provide nearly 86% of household cash flow.

We are simply borrowing to create wealth.

Posted by Hale Stewart at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 17, 2005

Poetic Justice Sunday

In one of my responsibilites here, I get to clean up the occasional comment/trackback spam, which attaches itself to older threads like barnacles on a boat's hull (despite the best efforts of software designed specifically to block it).

This morning, "pregnant nudes" showed up on this post.

Sometimes irony tastes exactly like a $1600 bottle of pinot noir.

Posted by Guest Blogger PDiddie at 08:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

New FDA Director of Women's Health is Get This - a Male Veterinarian - Updated 9/19

Update: Something is very wrong here. Salon and others picked up the original story, but the original press release was revised. I called the Media number listed on the press release and when I stated that I had a question about the director of women's health, I was forwarded to the automated drug information line.

From Salon:

Update: Shortly after we posted this item, which was based on a press release from Planned Parenthood, a reader alerted us to a press release that was posted today on the FDA's Web site. In that release, the FDA said that Theresa A. Toigo has been appointed as the acting director of the Office of Women's Health. The FDA press release also says, rather cryptically, "This is a revision of this statement posted earlier on September 16." That earlier statement is no longer available on the FDA's site, but, as another reader pointed out, a cached version is still available through Google. Under the heading, "Dr. Norris Alderson -- Acting Director of FDA's Office of Women's Health," Alderson's bio says, "The majority of his FDA career has been in the Center for Veterinary Medicine, holding a number of management positions, culminating in the position of Director, Office of Research." Did the FDA scramble to change acting direct