Get back the money AIG stole

Click here to tell Congress to follow Obama's lead and get the bonus money back from AIG and into taxpayers' hands.

The money honey bee

Very entertaining Comedy Central clip from Mar. 16th Jon Stewart Show that, believe it or not, is very informative about one of the financial legalities that has ruined the US economy. While we're all trying to figure out how to hang onto our jobs, how to afford to pay our health insurance premiums, how to keep up our mortgage payments, how to attract new customers to replace the ones that stopped purchasing our goods and services five months ago, and how to feed our families without having to visit the local soup kitchen once a week, it's good to get a little insight into the thinking of those who think our economy is one big crap shoot/slot machine/betting booth.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

The Money Honey Bee

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

It's legal!

It oughta be a lot of fun on Saturday at our Pledge Project table at the Spring into Action Fair, talking up President O's economic agenda to rally nationwide support of his 2010 budget, in the wake of his administration's handing over $170 billion of our money to AIG, who summarily handed over $165 million in "bonuses" to guys with the same moral ethics as this clown in the Comedy Central video. Bring along your optimism and sense of humor, and join us!

No more dough till we know where it goes

They won't reveal to us the names of the banks that have received $1.2 trillion of our money since September 2008.

Despite all that money, last week, AIG posted $61 billion in losses for the 4th quarter of 2008.

Where did the money go?

No one will tell us.

And now we're getting ready to hand over another humongoid chunk of our money to the tune of $750 billion to the same people.

If you're not happy with this scenario, please sign a Firedoglake petition at this link to let them know.

Here's what the petition says:

"Dear Members of Congress: The public needs to know where all our money has gone. Restoring public trust is critical in getting our economy back on its feet. We ask that you move swiftly to re-regulate and bring transparency to a financial system whose rules have been written by bank lobbyists for their own benefit. No additional bank bailout funds should be approved until that happens."

Cash-strapped communities suffer as corporations target water systems

Ran across a web site today that seems very well-suited as a resource for those of us who are interested in water resources and water allocation.

From Food & Water Watch:

"A new report released today by Food & Water Watch, a national consumer advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., reveals that many cash-strapped communities across the country are experiencing rate hikes and a decrease in public services after selling their water and wastewater systems to private corporations. Money Down the Drain: How Private Control of Water Wastes Public Resources highlights cities and towns across the country that have sold their water systems to private companies to offset budget deficits in an increasingly unstable economy, and the negative economic and environmental impact of water privatization on those communities ..."

Read the entire press release here.

Free foreclosure workshop in Oakland

When: Mar. 14th 10am-12noon
Location: Merritt College
Address:12500 Campus Drive, Oakland 94619
Contact: 510.759.2491

FREE FORECLOSURE WORKSHOP

Stop the Foreclosure Epidemic in our communities
Find out how the Recovery Package benefits you!

Saturday March 14
10am to 2pm

Merritt College, Room P 307
12500 Campus Drive, Oakland 94619

Organized by “United for Change” a grassroots group supporting
President Obama’s mission for change

PARTICIPATING PRESENTERS & SPEAKERS:

Fidelity Title Co - The role title companies play in loan modification, short sales and REO’s

Acorn Housing – Foreclosure prevention assistance

Operation Hope – Programs available to assist and educate foreclosure homeowners

Councilwoman Desley Brooks – Work being done on behalf of foreclosure victims in East Oakland

Oakland City Attorney’s Office – Tenants Rights in foreclosed properties

Refreshments served
PLEASE JOIN US!
Wheel Chair Accessible

For additional information
annemarie.stephens@gmail.com
510-759-2491

A personal account from a P4C member re one of the two Feb. 8th economic recovery house parties in Petaluma

From Ted & Anne-Marie Nordquist. Ted & Anne-Marie open with a personal message about their impressions of the meeting, and then outline the ideas that came out of it:

Summation of Our Meeting:

[We] deeply appreciate [Helaine] holding this meeting ... The following is my attempt to summarize our meeting and an attempt to encompass some of the ideas that were discussed:

1.We were impressed with the concern that all seem to have regarding education, community services such as firemen and police, and programs for the needy. It appears that everyone at the meeting felt that our government (our tax money) should be spent immediately to support existing employment rather than laying off employees in these areas. There are existing programs connected to improving the environment that employ youth that will help these youth toward employment opportunities in the future. Cutting these programs now will put these youth back on the streets and most likely increase the already growing crime rates.

2. Develop "child care" centers, day care and after school activity centers to help single parents and youth. This is an investment in future generations. There are already local boys and girls clubs that "if supported" can serve many more youth.

3. Extending unemployment insurance to the unemployed is a priority, but there are many unemployed who are victims of these times that are not on this list. The government must initiate programs to help these people also!

4. All seemed to agree that our government programs (tax money) must be spent without any discrimination for ethnicity/ race, religion, sexual preferences or physical handicaps. We must move towards a society that truly invests in fairness and distribution of our natural resources for all. It is time to end the corporate greed that has taken hold of our national and international markets. Corporate law that allows corporations to exploit employees throughout the world for the limited gain of shareholders must be regulated. Hiding behind "free market values" at the expense of "human dignity and fairness" must be addressed.

5. The banks are not helping the common citizen with home, car or business loans. We wonder why the banks (with our tax money) are charging high interest rates on loans when the federal interest rate is close to zero? The government should force a special loan program through the local banks that are tied to low interest rates when these loans are applied to energy efficient housing, cars and business.

6. Although the Obama campaign is tied to communications via the internet, email, etc., there are many American Citizens who do not have access to this technology and do not use this technology. How are you going to reach them? How do you include them in your communications and informational feedback?

7. It was pointed out that California already has senators "on track" and supportive of your recovery package. However, there are many "Red" communities that need to be reached. It was suggested that we all contact our governors, mayors, city council members and legislators and let them know that we support this recovery plan and also look forward to considerable change in how our resources are allocated going forward.

8. Just a note, although I am very supportive of the Obama Administration I am not a member of the Democratic Party. I am a member of the Green Party. I hope that you include all political parties, Green, Independent, Socialist, and Republican in your gathering of information. I would also strongly recommend that you contact indigenous tribal representatives still living on this land to get their opinions and ideas. Many of these ideas and values are much more "sustainable" than those we have developed from our European cultural values. After all, "we" are the ones destroying the earth, streams, rivers and oceans, not the indigenous people we supplanted.

9. Finally, this was not discussed in our meeting but I want to throw it out anyway. Europe experienced enormous "immigration" issues with many southern European citizens migrating to wealthier northern European countries. Europe finally formed a "European Union" where residence and work permits are open to all within the EU countries. Eventually, Canada, the USA, Mexico and South America will need to form such a union. It is just a matter of time. We should begin planning immigration laws, work permits and residence regulations towards this eventual Union to avoid excessive waste in the future. Building a Berlin wall between the USA and Mexico is such a waste of time and money.

Sincerely,

Ted & Anne-Marie Nordquist

Look what these citizens did while we were having house parties!

I just found a very heartening video of hundreds of homeowners rallying in matching "Stop the Loan Sharks!" t-shirts, carrying posters, outside the Connecticut McMansions of some of the bankers who fleeced mainstream America and who are now complaining that they can't live off of $500,000/yr. provided to them compliments of us taxpayers.

Click on this link to go to NBC New York News, and then click on the video that's on the lower left-hand side of your screen. Those marchers could be any one of us!

Be sure to click on the slideshow that's just below the video for a roll call of the sheisters who made off with all the subprime mortgage booty and who now are struggling to pay their nannies, chauffers, and groundskeepers, without tapping into their offshore accounts made possible by lax financial regulations during the Bush administration.

Looks like the foxes are about to be evicted from the hen house!

CEO bailouts or aid to working middle-class homeowners?

This video is especially poignant after reading Lynn Woolsey's letter to Pelosi and the Appropriations Committee about Senate cuts to Obama's economic stimulus bill, including cuts to zero out $2.25 billion in aid to states and localities to stabilize home abandonments/foreclosures.

To those of us who don't think this foreclosure crisis affects us, think again. Every time someone loses their home in this bank-created fiasco, the home values for every homeowner in America go down. Just because you haven't lost your home in this greed-frenzy doesn't mean you're not losing equity/wealth you have spent years of hard work earning.

While CEO's are screaming about their salaries being capped at $500,000, and corporate America is claiming that CEO salary-capping will discourage America's best and brightest from continuing to do the "terrific jobs" they've been doing these last few decades for American business, GOP Senators are engaging in Capitol Hill histrionics about the "pork" in the stimulus package. Apparently, salary assistance for hedge fund managers will pull us out of this recession, while financial aid for communities to address home foreclosures is "pork."

Lynn Woolsey is listening to her progressive base!

Read Congresswoman Woolsey's letter to Pelosi and the Appropriations Committee, in response to the Senate's beheading of Obama's American Recovery & Reinvestment Bill's funding for "green" technology, veterans, sustaining prevailing wages, school construction, early childhood education programs, state and local government financial asistance, the housing crisis created by our banking system, preventive health-care, and providing health-coverage for laid-off workers.

There's a link on the right-hand side of this blog if you care enough about this letter to send our US representative an e-mail.

A personal account from a P4C member re one of the two Feb. 8th economic recovery house parties in Petaluma

From Lee Strauss. Lee opens with a personal message about her impressions of the meeting, and then outlines the ideas that came out of it:

At the Dorenfeld's yesterday, we all agreed to submit a summary of the discussion. The bulk of it was the background and problems of the participants and each one''s current concurrence or displeasure with the state of the stimulus package.

Bottom line...there was no agreement of any type of action that we as a group or individuals could undertake.

There were several good suggestions presented that could be acted upon (beyond the philosophies that we all talk about).

To list a few: (and not in order of importance or preference)

1. Consumer Affairs Dept. (in D.C.) oversee a rebate program on large tickets items i.e. washers, dryers, refrigerators, water heaters, furnaces ETC. to stimulate purchases for persons with a definite NEED, but not the available finances to make the purchases.

2. Require large businesses to bring outsourced services back to US and hire locally.

3. Explore the first-hand knowledge with Ted Nordquist, CEO of a corporation in Sweden (American Citizen) who is intimately familiar with incentive programs, to save natural resources. I have his contact information.

4. Organize local volunteer projects to help the local economy (ie food for animal shelters, goods and services for persons who are no longer independent (newly unemployed) ETC, ETC, ETC.,

5. Talk to Betty Ann Bruno, retired Broadcast Journalist, about getting media coverage for the various projects. (She was at the meeting and very knowledgeable.)

I believe that if a meeting was announced and an agenda included that addresses how to start and manage these projects (amongst others), it would result in action. The people on the attendance list should be notified so that they feel that their participation is valued and needed. That's what gets and keeps volunteers!

Lee Strauss

A personal account from a P4C member re one of the two Feb. 8th economic recovery house parties in Petaluma

From Elaine Larson. Elaine opens with a personal message about her impressions of the meeting, and then outlines the ideas that came out of it:

Hi All.

Yesterday, after an incredible Mystery School weekend, I went to a local house meeting about the Economic Recovery Plan. There were 12 in attendance who, except for couples, had not met before. We watched the videos and then discussed ideas we had. It was a great experience and a summary of our ideas is below.

One idea that was left out is that US car makers have overseas operations that build small, fuel-efficient cars for other countries. Why can't those be made for the US market asap?

I bought my last new car in 1976. After that I made a vow that I would not buy another new car until I could buy one that got at least 100 mpg and was totally non-polluting. That was 33 years ago and the technologies were available then; I was disgusted that major auto makers were paying enormous sums to inventors so they could keep the technologies from coming to market.

It is a wonderful experience to meet other locals who want humans to survive as a species on the planet and who want the US to be in the forefront of creating solutions to make that possible.

Namaste,
Elaine

Ideas from 301 6^th St. Petaluma Meeting:

February 8^th, 2009

· Make a commitment to advocate among our community about the need for Recovery Plan to friends and neighbors- demonstrate our support for the Recovery Plan

· Donate our tax relief for projects and services that are being cut and are important to us

· ? Tax cuts do they make sense? Isn't that what has gotten us to where we are today?

· Moody's grade report for best spending says it is in aid- -unemployment, food stamps; health insurance etc.

· Long term tax cuts- allow people to create business plans that create for which they can get a loan.

· Credit? For business that hire people? That feels like a tough sell? Couldn't we create stimulus (reward) for hiring?

· Universal Health care-that could be a big boon for the country

· Infrastructure projects need to be shovel ready (ready to go)

· I'd like to see more manufacturing built in the US- but not to use protective tariffs- and not initiate a global trade wars. What can we do about it? How can we rebuild the manufacturing industries in the US?

· Are we addressing the mega watts issue? California uses a third less energy than other states because we conserve energy. - How can we help spur renewable energy across the nation?

· We need a whole different way of thinking than what we've had

· What is a healthy economy anyway? What does it look like? We need to ask ourselves this question in a new way. This is an important questions to ask ourselves as we embark on the biggest spending package we've ever seen

· Parks and the arts-don't appear to be in this package and they are both key to building a healthy community and economy.

· Can we insure that new technology in building materials are used in the infrastructure projects- i.e. concrete and asphalt that do not rely solely on petrochemicals etc. .are used in the infrastructure projects that are on the docket

· I want to weigh in to the admin – and those who are working on how to influence the choices are made so that we move ourselves toward a more sustainable economy.

· Can we get a list of what is being proposed to be spent on Infrastructure projects locally? Call Lynne Woolsey? We might be able to influence choices that will be made.

· Can we influence?

--
Elaine Larson

It's about time our press exposes the stupidity of the comments in opposition to the stimulus package!

In an op-ed today, the WaPo's Steven Perlstein really lays into the economics-ignorant rantings coming out of Capitol Hill and their minions in the right-wing press who are out railing against President Obama's American Recovery & Reinvestment Plan. Last week, in an NPR news spot, I was really struck by the jaw-droppingly stupid comments about the part of the stimulus package that Obama wants to use to purchase hybrid vehicles for official use by our government workers. Listening to our basic economics-challenged legislators strut and crow that this is wasteful pork is almost unbearable.

Good gosh almighty. In all their legislative glory, they are unable to see how this would stimulate that part of the auto industry that needs to be stimulated right now. I can't think of a better way for our tax money to be used to set a new standard in auto purchases by US consumers, to jump-start greater research into the new technology that will get us off the oil that's contributing so greatly toward global climate change, and that will have a relatively immediate impact on reducing our overall consumption of foreign oil, a consumption that everyone knows fuels global jihadist terrorism.

Listening to these clowns and their economic proclamations reminds me of the first week I spent in Calculus 301 at the University of Florida 35 years ago, before the drop/add process weeded out the dozen or so students who really weren't up to the level of math discussion, and who insisted that the problem was with the instructor's inability to set the lectures at their level of comprehension, rather than at the level that was needed to move forward with the course.

Not only does this op-ed do a good job outlining their specious arguments, it's entertaining to boot. And it goes a long way towards making all of us realize what a difficult task lies ahead for President Obama, the task of overcoming the ignorance of those elected to national office by constituents raised and nurtured on right-wing teevee and radio.

Let's all say a prayer for President O, to give him the strength and patience to deal with these numbskulls without making them look like total idiots.

TARP oversight panel chair Elizabeth Warren on The Rachel Maddow Show

Be one of a very small handful of Americans who watch this video clip about accountability for the public hand-out already given to our banks by Bush/Paulson, and the upcoming one they hope to get from Obama's economic stimulus package, the one that Obama/Geithner is now asking us to support. This is a must-see before attending one of those economic recovery house parties on Sun. Feb. 8th.



Are we listening? Demand transparency, accountability, a coherent story about what's going on. Let's make sure the economic stimulus bill we get is good for our economy and for our families, and not just good for special interests, like the banks.

Obama's weekly address

This is a must-watch for those of us participating in this weekend's economic recovery house parties. P4C member Helaine Dorenfeld's event is full, but as of this writing, Robert Hudson still has three spots available for you to sign up for:



And if you're so inclined to travel with a small group of us to Oakland on Sunday for the Community Organize Bay Area meeting hosted by Pam Coukos, you can sign up here. Let me know if you want to carpool with others. I can probably help you out.

Linda Carpenter Sexauer

Obama's speech about the economy before this weekend's grassroots efforts to help him get his stimulus package passed

Please take the less-than-10-minutes it takes to watch President Obama speak on Feb. 5th before House Democrats about his economic stimulus plan:




You can go here to watch a four-minute MSNBC video clip from his speech, and to read his speech in its entirety.

"This isn't some abstract debate."

Time to rev up our "Yes We Can" mojo!

There is an organized right wing fringe campaign to stop Obama's economic stimulus. Despite thousands of phone calls that mainstream Americans (Yes! We're in that group!) have made to our US Senators since Tue. Feb. 3rd, insisting on passage of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Plan, Rush Limbaugh's playing ideological political games with his right wing radio fan club base, and their calls are outnumbering ours 100 to 1. As a result, our US Senators are getting the false impression that America does not support Obama's economic stimulus package when, indeed, we do!

What can you do?

(1) Visit the front page of Community Organize for a toolbox to use to take action. Choose for yourself which actions you support, and support them.

(2) Sign up for and attend one of the following events on Sunday:

P4C member Helaine Dorenfeld's economic recovery house meeting in Petaluma

Pam Coukos' Community Organize Bay Area meeting in Oakland

Robert Hudson's economic recovery house meeting in Petaluma

Obama asks us, the volunteers who worked so hard for so long to get him elected, to stump for his economic stimulus package

From today's SFChron, by Chron political writer Carla Marinucci:

... [Obama] is on the stump in the virtual world, heading what political and tech experts say represents Act II of the groundbreaking, tech-savvy political organizing effort that helped take him to the White House ...

"I need your help to spread the word and build support," Obama told [his netroots supporters] Monday, urging Americans to lobby their legislators on behalf of the package.

... He is also urging them to host house parties and events to help spread the word. The parties will be held Friday through Sunday, and supporters will be able to visit an Internet site that arms them with the ammunition they need to make Obama's case: downloadable reports, statistics, talking points and state-specific information.

Read the whole shebang here.

Watch Obama tell Americans why he wants our support in a series of TV interviews Tue. evening Feb. 3rd:

Economic recovery house meeting in Petaluma

P4C member Helaine Dorenfeld is hosting an economic recovery house meeting in her home.

Event details:

Sun. Feb. 8th 2-3pm
Helaine Dorenfeld's home
521 Larch Drive
Petaluma 94952
763.8140
Sign up to attend.

A message from Organizing for America

Host an economic recovery house meeting.

If you decide to do this, be sure to let me know, so that I can post information about your event at this blog, as well as send out information about it to our P4C group e-mail list.

Are you still unclear about what Organizing for America is all about? Get up-to-speed by watching this video.

Linda Carpenter Sexauer
community organizer, P4C