We've had a tremendous first week, beyond our wildest expectations. Thanks to you, we've raised $70,000 and over fifty people signed up to volunteer.

This weekend the campaign will be sending people all over the district to collect signatures to get my name on the ballot. Things are moving quickly and March 3rd is less than two months away.

Things are moving quickly in the economy too. The government announced a loss of another half million jobs and the unemployment rate has hit a 16 year high. Our economic security grows more precarious by the day. That's why this election is crucial. We need to put economic security for working Americans at the center of our politics.

We're off to a great start, if you haven't joined us, please do.

-Tom Geoghegan

www.geogheganforcongress.com

It's been confusing bringing the facts to a few people here and there and to receive what seemed like incoherent responses. But now I get it, the standard rhetorical strategy for defending Israel's assault on Gaza is to engage in a blame game.

That is not what matters to me. I want to stop the killing now, so that no more than 805 die. And however difficult it is for some, such an effort needs to focus primarily on the party, Israel, that has so far killed 98.8% of the victims (795/805, making the three Israeli soldiers killed by friendly fire an Israeli responsibility).

As for the blame game, I've called it a classic "which came first the chicken or the egg" game. In other words, unsolveable (and backward-looking; solutions to the I/P mess are found in forward-looking and unpreconditioned negotiations). I've also noted that the blame gamers decide that one side provoked the other side, and in this rhetorical move the provoker is to be blamed and the provokee held blameless, which is perhaps the point of the move. We saw this at the Bush White House this morning:

White House press conference:

Q . . . I do have another question on Gaza. Today the head of the World Food Program said that 80 percent of the people in Gaza need urgent food assistance. Hundreds of people have died, many of them children. The Red Cross and the U.N. have both come out and said, we can't get in there; we don't have enough time in these limited cease-fires to administer the kind of humanitarian aid that is critical. At what point does this become, from the administration's perspective, a humanitarian crisis?

MR. STANZEL: Well, it is a humanitarian crisis. It's a war zone. And war zones are very difficult.

The Israeli officials have indicated their concerns. We have expressed our deep concerns about the situation with innocent lives being lost. But again, this is a problem, unfortunately, that was brought on by Hamas. Hamas, on December 19th, refused to extend the cease-fire. . . .

Well, doesn't that sound a lot like two or three commenters here at mydd?

CNN:

.....then released.

Reducing this video down to its bare essentials, what these Canadian Jewish women were saying is a theme we have heard many times before: Not in our name. Here is an update.

Ok, the Job Loss number clocked in from ADP figures at somewhere around 693,000 jobs last month. This is a hard figure based on actual employee payroll. Anyone in small business knows this number is extremely trustworthy - doing taxes in multiple states for your payroll is a complete hassle, and ADP does a great job of it so there are a lot of companies out there that trust ADP to do the job and they're not too expensive. I trust that ADP number.

Now I'm seeing another number, which has to do with who would file for unemployment, and  the like. Seriously, does anyone file for unemployment? You lose your job, you look for another one. How many people are actually fired, anyway? Most people are pressured out of their job or are lured off to another one, or the company blips off the radar, or whatever.  I don't believe that filing for unemployment is a valid measure of how many unemployed there are in the US.

So lets get a perspective, even then, with what I consider the nurfed down figure of 524,000 jobs lost last month. That puts Total Job Loss at 2.59 Million jobs, for 2008. The perspective I have to offer is that the end of World War II - where there was MASSIVE mobilization of all sectors of the economy for the war effort, and a MASSIVE shutdown of those wartime economies - was 2.75 Million.

So. 2008, in terms of markets and job loss was a "comet hits the earth" type event. Here's the worst part- its going to get worse.
The job losses have not stopped yet. In fact, if 1929 is any measure, the companies that lost market capital are only just now cutting back jobs and there will be more to follow.

Job losses like this presage a great depression. And thats exactly what we're headed for, economically speaking. What do you think?

Have you ever noticed how bread does not last long enough? You'll buy a loaf, use four slices immediately, and then let it sit on the shelf for two weeks. By the time you try to use the remaining slices, its stale, or even worse, moldy. Well this loaf is a lot like Barack Obama's political capital if it is not used quickly and correctly. In his first 100 days, President Obama could make delicious tuna and PB&J sandwiches. But recently it looks like he'll let the bread mold grasping for bi-partisanship.

It's clear that Obama's economic stimulus plan doesn't cut the mustard. By trying to get 80 votes in the Senate, he risks losing too much trying to appease Republicans. Obama doesn't have to do this. The stimulus plan will pass easily with the 59 Democrats and a handful of moderate Republican Senators who support it.

But Obama is making good on the promise to be the President for everyone, not just liberals. While this is a laudable goal, Obama risks wasting his mandate even before his first term begins. When you have political capital, use it to make big advances on important issues, not to grab 15 unnecessary votes that will only weaken a desperately needed economic stimulus plan.

Obama's popularity complex worries John Judas, too. He is concerned that "<span><span>the president elect is underestimating the problem he and the country faces.</span>" Judis calls for a much more extensive stimulus plan that includes funds to increase high speed public transportation. The closest equivalent we have to Europe's impressive example is Amtrak's Acela line, which is limited largely to the northeast corner of the country and is very expensive. But the extension of high speed transit would require a massive investment, which Congress has not even come close to supporting. </span>

Judas continues:

Investing in high-speed rails would be very expensive, but unlike tax cuts--the benefits of which can be siphoned off in the purchase of imported goods--the money spent would go directly to reviving American industry and improving the country's trade balance. That doesn't just mean jobs creating dedicated tracks or new rail stations: Though the U.S. abandoned train manufacturing decades ago to the French, Germans, Canadians, and Japanese, this kind of production could be undertaken by our ailing auto companies or aircraft companies--if the federal and state governments were to place orders. And building trains that would run on electricity would be a paradigmatic example of the "green jobs" that Obama often touts.

In short, its worth the investment. Krugman agrees. $800 Billion is a lot of money, but if it funds an incomplete and insufficient plan, then it is wasted. I'd rather see a more expensive stimulus plan that serves as the final word and gets us back on track. We can kill two birds with one giant, expensive stone. Build a much-need U.S. high-speed transit system and stimulate the economy. This is possible without pandering to Senate Republicans.

Congressional Democrats are rightly frustrated by Obama's concessions, and they are not afraid to show it. The stimulus issue was the final and most important disappointment in a week of Democratic division which included the Blago/Burris Illinios scandal, the Panetta/Fienstein miscommunication, and the choice of TV star Sanjay Gupta as Surgeon General.

Obama is the President of all Americans, red, blue, and purple. But he won a huge mandate in November's election, supported by large majorities in the House and Senate. Obama needs to use that advantage to pass a working stimulus plan, even if it squeaks by with 61 votes.

Otherwise, he's wasting perfectly good bread.

Read more: Three Steps Forward

It is difficult to figure out as to why a progressive like Obama would choose an independent turned moderate republican as his Treasury secretary during one of worst economic downturns of the century. The only answer I could come up with is TEFLON. By the way  he is a surfer and a good soft ball player.It seems to me that most people at MYDD do not realize the role played by  Teflon Tim in one of the worst financial disasters since the great depression.

In order to fully appreciate his role you need to understand the workings of the New York Fed. I am quoting from the US news world report and NY Fed Web:

But this is the most important one: "Mr. Geithner, the job of the New York Fed is to -- now I am quoting its own web site -- 'supervise and regulate financial institutions in the Second District [Wall Street]. Its primary objective is to maintain safe and competitive U.S. and global banking systems.' You have been in your current post since 2003 and during that time the U.S. financial system has come close to complete disintegration. Why do you deserve a promotion?"

The fact that some of the Democratic senators like Kerry are questioning the viability of the stimulus package is a warning sign that we progressives should not ignore. We must make sure that he acts as our Treasury Secretary and not as the Bailout Czar of Wall street cheats. I want him to fall in line because we won the election and "Elections have consequences".

These are some of the questions that would be asked next week when his confirmation hearings are held:

"Please describe your role during the the demise of Lehman." "How has the AIG bailout been good for taxpayer?" "What role did did Fannie and Freddie play in the subprime mortgage bubble?" "What role has government policy played in creating the housing and credit crisis?" "How does tax policy affect economic growth?" "What should be done to fix Social Security?" "Should the government more directly aid homeowners?" "What is the growth potential of the U.S. economy?" "Should unions represent more workers and how would that affect productivity?" "Should China be pushed to strengthen its currency." "Does America need a stronger dollar?" "How do budget deficits affect real interest rates."

I would add my question: Mr Geithner what is your commitment to progressibe Democratic principles?

I have no doubt that Tim Geithner will be confirmed and he should be. It is our responsibility to make sure that he never forgets that he has been nominated by a very Progressive President with the biggest mandate in the past 20 years.

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/capital-comm erce/2008/11/26/timothy-geithner-obamas- teflon-treasury-secretary.html

The list of George W. Bush's accomplishments is breathtaking.  As we bid him farewell, we should spend some time reflecting on what he has done on our behalf.  Please feel free to add your memorials in the comments.

President-elect Obama's stimulus package--which more than one MSM outlet has described as a little bit of something for everyone--is concurrently and quickly being widely perceived as short of the mark by many liberal economists.

Obama Warns of Irreversible Decline Without Action

By Julianna Goldman

Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- President-elect Barack Obama warned that without immediate steps by the government to revive the economy, family incomes will drop, the unemployment rate could reach "double digits" and the U.S. risks losing a "generation of potential and promise."