Here we hear from a respected Economist, James Galbraith. If you want to save the economy raise the minimum wage. We are still waiting for Obama and the Democrats to propose the increase:
Friday, May 4, 2012
Obama administration urges freer access to cellphone records
This President has as bad or worse record on civil liberties as George W. Bush:
The U.S. Congress should pass a law to give investigators freer access to certain cellphone records, an Obama administration official said on Thursday, in remarks that raised concern among advocates of civil liberties and privacy.
[...]Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon and Republican House of Representatives member Jason Chaffetz of Utah proposed a bill last year trying to detail a legal framework, including requiring a warrant for acquiring location information for a person; however the legislation has not advanced.
SPIN METER: Lawmakers' talk of cuts is just talk
Ross Perot used to talk about government buying votes with your money. That's what it's all about. And that is why members of Congress get re-elected perpetually:
If there's one thing Republicans and Democrats in Washington say they agree on, it's the need to reduce federal spending. And it's something they almost never do, as recent events have proved again.
[...]And so it goes, program by program, year after year, no matter which party controls the White House or Congress.
Lawmakers talk in grand, abstract terms of cutting vast sums from the budget. Even Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, whose Democratic Party traditionally is less fretful about spending than is the GOP, has proposed a whopping $1.2 trillion cut in discretionary spending.
But when given the chance to actually cut a few billion dollars from a particular program, lawmakers routinely bow to ardent defenders, and their lobbyists, and pull back. When these lawmakers get re-elected, term after term, the lesson to aspiring politicians is clear.
Impatient gay-rights groups keep pressure on Obama
Obama knows in the end the gay rights groups will come back running to him:
The refrain sounded by his aides is accurate: Barack Obama has done more for the cause of gay rights than any president before him.
Nonetheless, gay-rights activists and organizations are on the president's case these days, pressing him for further steps on two fronts and suggesting that political timidity is holding him back.
One source of frustration is Obama's stance on same-sex marriage - he has yet to endorse it even though he advocates equal rights for gay and lesbian couples. Tensions may mount as activists and many leading Democrats call for the Democratic National Convention to support marriage equality in the platform it will adopt in September.
The other dispute involves a months-long campaign by gay-rights advocates urging Obama to issue an executive order barring federal contractors from discriminating against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
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