Saturday, July 16, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Debt talks revive Senate Democrat plan to kill 3 Big Oil tax deductions

Posted: 15 Jul 2011 01:23 PM PDT

By: Bruce Alpert, nola.com

In seeking alternatives to the Republican proposal to reduce the deficit solely with cuts in federal spending, Democrats are targeting three sections of the tax code that provide the oil industry with benefits worth $21 billion over the next 10 years.

The details of the Democratic plans have been largely lost in the emotional debate about whether taxes on the wealthy and on profitable corporations should be raised as part of a deficit reduction plan Republicans are demanding before they’ll agree to raise the current $14.3 trillion debt limit.

Senate Democrats say their plan, which was blocked by a coalition of Republicans and oil-state Democrats but has been resurrected in the deficit reduction negotiations, would target only the big oil companies that are extremely profitable.

The Democrats’ package would repeal a domestic manufacturing deduction, worth more than $12 billion; a deduction for taxes paid to foreign governments, worth about $6 billion; and a provision that allows companies to deduct intangible drilling and development costs, worth $2 billion. On the foreign taxes, Democrats said much of the money constitutes royalty payments for oil and aren’t really taxes.

Though Republicans say that tax increases are off the table for revenue production, Democrats say that some increases or elimination of loopholes are needed so the brunt of deficit reduction doesn’t fall on the middle class and poor.

“If we’re going to put this on the backs of middle-class working families who spend more of their disposable income, then I don’t know how we’re going to drive this economy,” Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said during a Senate Banking Committee hearing Thursday. “Wouldn’t you think that it’s fair to consider a shared sacrifice that is spread across the board to try to solve this debt ceiling question and the debt questions that confront the nation?”

To read more, visit:  http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/07/debt_talks_revive_senate_democ.html

Return of the Gold Standard as world order unravels

Posted: 15 Jul 2011 01:20 PM PDT

By: James Quinn, Telegraph.co.uk

As the twin pillars of international monetary system threaten to come tumbling down in unison, gold has reclaimed its ancient status as the anchor of stability. The spot price surged to an all-time high of $1,594 an ounce in London, lifting silver to $39 in its train.

On one side of the Atlantic, the eurozone debt crisis has spread to the countries that may be too big to save – Spain and Italy – though RBS thinks a €3.5 trillion rescue fund would ensure survival of Europe’s currency union.

On the other side, the recovery has sputtered out and the printing presses are being oiled again. Brinkmanship between the Congress and the White House over the US debt ceiling has compelled Moody’s to warn of a “very small but rising risk” that the world’s paramount power may default within two weeks. “The unthinkable is now thinkable,” said Ross Norman, director of thebulliondesk.com.

Fed chair Ben Bernanke confessed to Congress that growth has failed to gain traction. “Deflationary risks might re-emerge, implying a need for additional policy support,” he said.

The bar to QE3 – yet more bond purchases – is even lower than markets had thought. The new intake of hard-money men on the voting committee has not shifted Fed thinking, despite global anger at dollar debasement under QE2.

Fuelling the blaze, the emerging powers of Asia are almost all running uber-loose monetary policies. Most have negative real interest rates that push citizens out of bank accounts and into gold, or property.

China is an arch-inflater. Prices are rising at 6.4pc, yet the one-year deposit rate is just 3.5pc. India’s central bank is far behind the curve.

To read more, visit:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/8638644/Return-of-the-Gold-Standard-as-world-order-unravels.html

Placing obese children in foster homes a controversial proposition

Posted: 15 Jul 2011 01:16 PM PDT

By Chris Woolston, LATimes.com

Foster care might be the best place for extremely overweight kids — or so says Dr. David Ludwig, director of the Optimal Weight for Life program at Children’s Hospital in Boston, and one of the country’s leading crusaders against childhood obesity.

It’s not going to happen soon. There are no patrols of social workers ready to abscond with the fat kids of America. But Ludwig’s suggestion is bound to spark outrage — and perhaps more than a little shame — in parents. They know they have lost control, and they know they could be doing a better job of keeping their kids healthy. But they aren’t ready to give up, either.

Writing in the July 13 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Assn., Ludwig says that “parenting deficiencies” can contribute to a child’s weight problem. He goes on to say that “in severe cases of childhood obesity, removal from the home may be justifiable from a legal standpoint because of imminent health risks and the parents’ chronic failure to address medical problems.” He says foster homes would be a last resort, but it’s an option that should be kept on the table.

When you see a 150-pound third-grader at the mall, you probably feel sympathy tinged with a little shock. Ludwig evidently sees evidence of child abuse.

He’s no crackpot. He clearly feels — with much justification — that kids who have put on huge amounts of weight need a change of environment. But it would be far better if that change could take place in a child’s own home, says Edward Garrido, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine who studies the long-term consequences of placing children in foster care. “It’s a major disruption to the bond that parents have with children,” he says. The emotional scars from such a separation would only add to an overweight kid’s problems, he says.

Garrido says it’s also too simplistic to say that obesity is a sign of neglect. Some kids, he notes, are biologically geared to put on pounds in bunches. And we’re not just talking about “big bones” or “slow metabolism.” For one extreme example, kids born with Prader-Willi syndrome feel the need to eat constantly, a drive that can make them dangerously and profoundly overweight.

To read more, visit:  http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-child-obesity-foster-care-20110714,0,7405561.story

Cyber theft illustrates Pentagon security challenge

Posted: 15 Jul 2011 01:11 PM PDT

By David Alexander, Reuters.com

(Reuters) – A foreign intelligence service stole 24,000 files from a U.S. defense contractor earlier this year, a dramatic illustration of the threat confronting the Pentagon as it works to bolster military computer security, a top defense official said on Thursday.

Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn revealed the theft as he unveiled a new Pentagon cybersecurity strategy that designates cyberspace as an “operational domain” like sea, air and land where U.S. forces will practice, train and prepare to defend against attacks.

Lynn said the theft occurred in March and was believed to have been carried out by a foreign intelligence service and targeted files at a defense contractor developing weapons systems and defense equipment. He declined to specify the country behind the attack, what company was hit or what the files contained.

“It was 24,000 files, which is a lot,” Lynn said. “But I don’t think it’s the largest we’ve seen.”

The theft was a dramatic illustration of the rising difficulties the Pentagon faces in protecting military and defense-related networks critical to U.S. security.

Defense Department employees operate more than 15,000 computer networks and 7 million computers at hundreds of installations around the world. The department’s networks are probed millions of times a day and penetrations have compromised huge amounts of data.

To read more, visit:  http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/14/us-usa-defense-cybersecurity-idUSTRE76D6Y820110714

World-Renowned Heart Surgeon’s License Revoked For Performing Hundreds Of Unnecessary Surgeries

Posted: 15 Jul 2011 01:05 PM PDT

From: CBSBaltimore.com

TOWSON, Md. (WJZ)—He's accused of performing unnecessary surgical procedures on hundreds of his patients. Now many of those patients are celebrating news that the state yanked Dr. Marc Midei's medical license.

Derek Valcourt has reaction to the decision by the Maryland Board of Physicians.

Many of Midei's patients are calling this vindication. And for their attorneys filing civil lawsuits, it's more ammunition.

The 88-page report from the Maryland Board of Physicians blasts Dr. Marc Midei for violations they call repeated, serious and indefensible. So severe they revoked Midei's medical license.

"That's what I was hoping for," said Vicki Marrs. "Happy. He doesn't deserve to have his license."

Marrs is one of 585 people who received a letter from St. Joseph Medical Center saying Midei may have unnecessarily given her a stent, a tiny device designed to open up blocked arteries. It's a charge Midei has vehemently denied.

To read more, visit:  http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2011/07/14/dr-loses-license-former-patients-attorneys-react/

Third Iowa poll shows Bachmann in the lead

Posted: 15 Jul 2011 01:01 PM PDT

By Rachel Rose Hartman, YahooNews.com

You know what they say: “Three’s a trend.”

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann on Thursday led the 2012 GOP field in the latest poll out of Iowa–making the third such survey this week that has Bachmann on top.

The Mason-Dixon Polling Research survey, conducted July 5-7 for the Every Child Matters Education Fund, found that 32 percent of registered Republicans in Iowa prefer Bachmann for the 2012 GOP nomination. Bachmann was closely followed in the survey by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who received 29 percent support. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty placed a distant third with 7 percent.

Two other surveys out this week showed similar results. An Iowa Republican survey of likely GOP caucus-goers released Sunday showed Bachmann leading the GOP field in Iowa with 25 percent support. Romney received 21 percent in that poll. And a poll released Tuesday by the American Research Group found Bachmann the favored candidate among likely GOP caucus-goers in Iowa with 21 percent. Romney placed a close second with 19 percent.

Bachmann, who burst into the 2012 race with a crowd-pleasing performance at the June 13 CNN debate, late last month rolled out her 2012 campaign in her birthplace of Waterloo, Iowa.

Iowa remains a key state in the 2012 primary process as home to the first-in-the-nation caucus. Though some candidates this cycle have chosen to focus their attention elsewhere, a win in Iowa still offers candidates potentially significant momentum heading into the remainder of the primary cycle.

To read more, visit:  http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/third-iowa-poll-shows-bachmann-lead-152611549.html

Reid calls tea party argument ‘a bunch of garbage’

Posted: 15 Jul 2011 12:56 PM PDT

Posted by Scott Wong, Politico.com

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) trashed the argument by Sarah Palin and other conservatives that Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell's backup debt plan is unconstitutional, calling it “a bunch of garbage."

"I've been to a few court houses," Reid said at a news conference on Thursday. Those in the tea party "seem to think they have an all knowing wisdom about the Constitution. In short, that's a bunch of garbage. I don't know how to say it more clearer than that."

McConnell's plan, unveiled this week, would essentially hand President Barack Obama power to raise the debt ceiling. Congress would be able to vote on a resolution of disapproval to reject his request for a debt hike. But the president could veto the resolution, and it'd be unlikely two-thirds of the Senate could override his veto.

This "last-choice option," as McConnell has termed it, would put the onus on Democrats to raise the debt ceiling, while allowing Republicans to escape any blame for a potential default.

Some conservative groups and tea party members have objected to the plan, pointing to part of the Constitution which states Congress alone holds the power of the purse.

"We will not hand over more power, which I think is unconstitutional, to President Obama to further manipulate our economy," Palin said on Fox News Wednesday night.

To read more, visit:  http://www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/0711/Reid_calls_tea_party_argume_a_bunch_of_garbage.html
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