The latest polls seem to show Thompson taking the lead from Giuliani.
Many pundits believe that this is due in large part to what will be a short lived "Bump" from the attention surrounding his late arrival into the ring.
Michael Tomasky, editor of Guardian America, in a resent interview stated,
"Social conservatives are convinced virtually to a person that Hillary is going to be Democratic nominee," he said. "They think Giuliani is the only Republican who's tough enough to stop her. He's a tough, sharp-elbowed New Yorker."
While there has been a fair amount of movement in the polls on the Republican side, Hillary seems to just move further out ahead.
I agree that Hillary is polarizing and has high negative numbers. She does, however have the advantage of already being put through the fires.
The "Bad" news about her is already out there. We are not going to learn all that much new about her. Giuliani and Thompson both still have closets that have yet to be opened. So you knows.....
As a Democrat - leaning voter, I sure wish MoveOn.org would stop "Helping" the Democrats so much. Their intention might be to get Democratic party elected, but some of the time I think they do more harm than good.www.urbaninsuranceagency.comhttp://urbannewsblog.blogspot.com
Friday, September 21, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
In Iraq, Follow the oil money
When planning the family Christmas vacation, Iraq was not on the short list of likely destinations. I can not remember turning over any product and seeing a stamp stating “Made in Iraq”. It is clear the Iraq has one and only one commodity to sell, and that’s oil.
When President Bush announced that "America will hold the Iraqi government to the benchmarks." One that was top of the list was the pledge "to give every Iraqi citizen a stake in the country's economy”. In Iraq that means “Iraq will pass legislation to share oil revenues among all Iraqis."
It has long been understood that Without a system for sharing oil revenues, there will never be an Iraq. The Palestinians would sooner give up Jerusalem then would the Sunni’s or Shiite give up their share of Iraq’s oil resources. So it was very upsetting to hear that the negotiations failed and even more so when it became clear that a factor in the collapse of the deal was a deal Hunt Oil of Dallas made with the Kurdish provincial government.
This deal does two things, one it confirms that those with “Inside information” believe that the surge has failed, and that any attempt to get any negotiation back on track, has just been made much harder.
For years, many people here in the States as well as in Iraq, have suspected that the Bush/Chaney team have, as a part of their plan, a desire to profit from control of Iraq’s oil. I for one, laughed this off as “Left-Winged” propaganda. To take a line from the Yippies at the 68 convention in Chicago, “The whole world is watching”. I questioned some of the wisdom behind the move into Iraq, but not the motive. But let’s look at a few things we know:
1. Ray L. Hunt is the chief executive and president of Hunt Oil.
2. Hunt is a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
3. Ray Hunt, the current chair of the company, is also on the board of Halliburton
4. Ray Hunt has contributed $35,000,000.00 to form the Bush Library at MSU
5. Mr. Hunt is on the board of SMU. Southern Methodist University.
6. Mr hunt is on the Board of Trustess for the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation.
7. Haliburton Corp received $16.5 Billion in no bid contracts from Iraq war?
America has placed spent an amazing amount of “Blood and Treasure” in Iraq, I desperately want to believe that that sacrifices made were not in vane. I would love to see the Iraqi Government hit each of the benchmarks; but it seems as if the “inside money is betting the other way.
Larry Lubell
Larry@urbaninsuranceagency.com
When President Bush announced that "America will hold the Iraqi government to the benchmarks." One that was top of the list was the pledge "to give every Iraqi citizen a stake in the country's economy”. In Iraq that means “Iraq will pass legislation to share oil revenues among all Iraqis."
It has long been understood that Without a system for sharing oil revenues, there will never be an Iraq. The Palestinians would sooner give up Jerusalem then would the Sunni’s or Shiite give up their share of Iraq’s oil resources. So it was very upsetting to hear that the negotiations failed and even more so when it became clear that a factor in the collapse of the deal was a deal Hunt Oil of Dallas made with the Kurdish provincial government.
This deal does two things, one it confirms that those with “Inside information” believe that the surge has failed, and that any attempt to get any negotiation back on track, has just been made much harder.
For years, many people here in the States as well as in Iraq, have suspected that the Bush/Chaney team have, as a part of their plan, a desire to profit from control of Iraq’s oil. I for one, laughed this off as “Left-Winged” propaganda. To take a line from the Yippies at the 68 convention in Chicago, “The whole world is watching”. I questioned some of the wisdom behind the move into Iraq, but not the motive. But let’s look at a few things we know:
1. Ray L. Hunt is the chief executive and president of Hunt Oil.
2. Hunt is a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
3. Ray Hunt, the current chair of the company, is also on the board of Halliburton
4. Ray Hunt has contributed $35,000,000.00 to form the Bush Library at MSU
5. Mr. Hunt is on the board of SMU. Southern Methodist University.
6. Mr hunt is on the Board of Trustess for the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation.
7. Haliburton Corp received $16.5 Billion in no bid contracts from Iraq war?
America has placed spent an amazing amount of “Blood and Treasure” in Iraq, I desperately want to believe that that sacrifices made were not in vane. I would love to see the Iraqi Government hit each of the benchmarks; but it seems as if the “inside money is betting the other way.
Larry Lubell
Larry@urbaninsuranceagency.com
Friday, September 14, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Gonzales Resigns as Attorney General
"It has been one of my greatest privileges to lead the Department of Justice," Gonzales said, announcing his resignation effective Sept. 17.
President Bush despite ever growing criticism and demands from Republicans and Democrats both, that he be asked to leave, had defiantly stood by Gonzales.
Alberto Gonzales, was the nation's first Hispanic attorney general and had been President Bush’s personal lawyer and advisor since the beginning of George “W”s political career.
Gonzales was condemned over the Justice Department's handling of warrantless wiretaps, as well as the firings of several U.S. attorneys for what many suspect was for political reasons at the request of Karl Rove.
Many of both sides of the Isle had demanded his resignation resulting from the inconsistent testimony he gave to congress over the botched handling of FBI terror investigations, the firings of U.S. attorneys and a general distrust in his integrity
President Bush despite ever growing criticism and demands from Republicans and Democrats both, that he be asked to leave, had defiantly stood by Gonzales.
Alberto Gonzales, was the nation's first Hispanic attorney general and had been President Bush’s personal lawyer and advisor since the beginning of George “W”s political career.
Gonzales was condemned over the Justice Department's handling of warrantless wiretaps, as well as the firings of several U.S. attorneys for what many suspect was for political reasons at the request of Karl Rove.
Many of both sides of the Isle had demanded his resignation resulting from the inconsistent testimony he gave to congress over the botched handling of FBI terror investigations, the firings of U.S. attorneys and a general distrust in his integrity
Monday, August 13, 2007
A new definition of freedom
Like most people who have recently spent time in New York City, It is impossible not to notice that NYC is a much cleaner and more livable city. There was a time in the early 80s when New York seemed permanently type cast as post- apocalyptic nightmare of filth and decay.
Then came Rudy Giuliani.
Yes at times he was “Heavy-handed.” Yes he was frequently accused of being dictatorial, but it was hard not to notice that was a significant degree of competency to the man.
In the days immediately after 9/11, he was a shining example of how a leader should behave. Again he seemed competent, in control and strong, particularly in contrast to our president and Vice President, both who were literally and figuratively “In an undisclosed location.
So while I am willing to “Take my hat off to him” for some of his strengths, I can't help but be afraid of his tenancy to turn to autocratic rule.
Yesterday Rudy Giuliani defined Freedom in a manor that should scare the S#!t out of all Americans.
Freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do."
Rudy, Thanks for cleaning the graffiti off the trains, and getting the landscaping done in Central Park; But I’m sorry, I have a very different understanding of Freedom.
Then came Rudy Giuliani.
Yes at times he was “Heavy-handed.” Yes he was frequently accused of being dictatorial, but it was hard not to notice that was a significant degree of competency to the man.
In the days immediately after 9/11, he was a shining example of how a leader should behave. Again he seemed competent, in control and strong, particularly in contrast to our president and Vice President, both who were literally and figuratively “In an undisclosed location.
So while I am willing to “Take my hat off to him” for some of his strengths, I can't help but be afraid of his tenancy to turn to autocratic rule.
Yesterday Rudy Giuliani defined Freedom in a manor that should scare the S#!t out of all Americans.
Freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do."
Rudy, Thanks for cleaning the graffiti off the trains, and getting the landscaping done in Central Park; But I’m sorry, I have a very different understanding of Freedom.
Friday, August 3, 2007
No Money available to fix Bridges
No money to fix our bribges/ but money available for Iraq war
I came home yesterday evening turned on the TV, and was faced with the horrific pictures of the I35 Bridge in Minneapolis.
My heart goes out to all of those who lost loved ones, or were injured in the frightening collapse. Each of us has a mental list of things that scare us, for many of us, this now yet another concern to add to the list.
We have been told for years that the US Highway system is over 50 years old. We have been told that nothing lasts forever, and that for many years we have been “Putting band-aids” on serious structural flaws. But is the bridges that pose the greatest danger, as well as per mile, the greatest cost to replace.
Since Wednesday, we have all learned a lot more about the dangers that ageing bridges represent.
More than 70,000 bridges across the country are rated structurally deficient like the I-35W bridge , and engineers estimate repairing them all would take at least a generation and cost more than $188 billion.
For year we were told that that figure was too large to deal with, that now was not the time. In fact many just sort of threw up their hands, the way we do with stories of Social Security or Medicare running out of money. The idea is if you just don’t talk about it, maybe it will go away.
How are we ever going to come-up with $188 Billion.? Where can the US find those kinds of funds?
I have a good place to start the search…
Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, puts the final figure of the US involvement in the Iraq war at a shocking $1 trillion to $2 trillion dollars. This figure includes $500 billion in direct costs for the war and occupation and up to $300 billion in future health care costs for wounded troops.
Linda Bilmes, at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, has also projected the war’s costs, and has arrived at a similar estimate. Granted, these figures seem on the high side, but when was the last time anything government did came in at the “Low side” of an estimate.
Yes, $188 Billion is a big chunk of change, and of course it will run dramatically over budget. And replacing the $3.1 cut last year from federal education budget, and doubling the funds spent on “Home land security,” will require the reallocation of resources. If we add to that, a manned mission to mars reducing the number of people without health insurance, the truth is, it will still let come close to the costs associated with this war.
Just a little something to keep in mind the next time you drive over a bridge.
UrbanBlog
Larry@urbaninsuranceagency.com
I came home yesterday evening turned on the TV, and was faced with the horrific pictures of the I35 Bridge in Minneapolis.
My heart goes out to all of those who lost loved ones, or were injured in the frightening collapse. Each of us has a mental list of things that scare us, for many of us, this now yet another concern to add to the list.
We have been told for years that the US Highway system is over 50 years old. We have been told that nothing lasts forever, and that for many years we have been “Putting band-aids” on serious structural flaws. But is the bridges that pose the greatest danger, as well as per mile, the greatest cost to replace.
Since Wednesday, we have all learned a lot more about the dangers that ageing bridges represent.
More than 70,000 bridges across the country are rated structurally deficient like the I-35W bridge , and engineers estimate repairing them all would take at least a generation and cost more than $188 billion.
For year we were told that that figure was too large to deal with, that now was not the time. In fact many just sort of threw up their hands, the way we do with stories of Social Security or Medicare running out of money. The idea is if you just don’t talk about it, maybe it will go away.
How are we ever going to come-up with $188 Billion.? Where can the US find those kinds of funds?
I have a good place to start the search…
Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, puts the final figure of the US involvement in the Iraq war at a shocking $1 trillion to $2 trillion dollars. This figure includes $500 billion in direct costs for the war and occupation and up to $300 billion in future health care costs for wounded troops.
Linda Bilmes, at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, has also projected the war’s costs, and has arrived at a similar estimate. Granted, these figures seem on the high side, but when was the last time anything government did came in at the “Low side” of an estimate.
Yes, $188 Billion is a big chunk of change, and of course it will run dramatically over budget. And replacing the $3.1 cut last year from federal education budget, and doubling the funds spent on “Home land security,” will require the reallocation of resources. If we add to that, a manned mission to mars reducing the number of people without health insurance, the truth is, it will still let come close to the costs associated with this war.
Just a little something to keep in mind the next time you drive over a bridge.
UrbanBlog
Larry@urbaninsuranceagency.com
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