There is plenty of room for budget cuts in the F-35 program to pay for Hurricane Superstorm Sandy Relief for 500,000 people currently in distress.

Exclusive: U.S. sees lifetime cost of F-35 fighter at $1.45 trillion (click here)

An F-35 Lightning II over Florida's Eglin Air Force Base.

...In that one-page summary, (click here) GAO states the F-35 program now projects “costs of $395.7 billion, an increase of $117.2 billion (42 percent) from the prior 2007 baseline.”  The much more complete story is in this table from the report:...

If Republicans are having a difficult time finding cuts in budgets to pay for Sandy Relief Aid, they can look to the overruns of the F-35 for cuts. The costs of the F-35 are never ending. It is time to get real about this plane. The F-35 is one of those Black Hole military projects that need severe review at this point. The production plant for the F-35 is in Fort Worth, Texas.

...The White House has requested $60 billion in federal disaster relief (click here) to repair the damage caused by Sandy, but Republicans have balked. Rep. Scott Garrett of New Jersey  called disaster relief “wasteful spending.” And four other right-wing Republicans told The Hill that they would demand cuts in other programs to offset the expense.

Rep. Raul Labrador of Idaho said “We have these emergencies every year and we should prepare for that in our budget.” That’s reasonable, but rich. In Sept. 2011, Senate Democrats approved $6.9 billion to refill the disaster emergency fund and House Republicans cut that amount by nearly half. Not yet satisfied, they demanded $1 billion in offsetting cuts from a loan program to develop energy-efficient automobiles.

Only in the labyrinth of the right would it make sense to cut a long-term program to deal with the fact of climate change and its impact on the environment to pay for storm-related devastation that is one of the effects of global warming....

Oh, Canada, Oh, Canada...

By Rob Gillies - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Dec 12, 2012 18:20:07 EST

TORONTO — Canada is considering buying fighter jets other than U.S.-made F-35s (click here) because of escalating costs associated with Lockheed Martin’s troubled Joint Strike Fighter program, the country’s defense minister said Wednesday.

Defense Minister Peter MacKay said the government needs to ensure a balance between military and taxpayer interests.

MacKay said Canada needs to have all viable options on the table to replace the current fleet of 1980s-vintage CF-18s, which the government says will reach the end of their projected service life around 2020....

Crossroads GPS: "Over" (click title to entry - thank you)

The racism is real. It is very, very real. As long as racism has power it will never stop.

MONDAY, DEC 10, 2012 11:21 AM EST

The disgusting racial codes in his (Karl Rove) super PAC's new ad suggest the GOP will never stop pitting us against each other

BY DAVID SIROTA

...“You start out in 1954 by saying, ‘Nigger, nigger, nigger,’” (click here) he said. “By 1968 you can’t say ‘nigger’ — that hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff like, uh, forced busing, states’ rights, and all that stuff, and you’re getting so abstract. Now, you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites.”

Though Atwater made those comments and those ads a generation ago, they are — sadly — not outdated tactics merely for debate among historians. They are particularly relevant this week thanks to a new television ad campaign launched by Atwater’s friend and protégé Karl Rove.

Constructed by Rove’s Crossroads GPS, the spot is airing on cable throughout the nation and focuses on what Atwater would call “totally economy things.” View the ad and make sure to closely watch the visual presentation:...

Ambassador Rice will never be left alone now.

She had the endorsement of President Obama. She should have gone forward with her potential nomination. 

She should never, never, never step back into the shadows because of racists. What makes her think their harassment is going to stop? They aren't going to stop.They will ruin a career at the first perception of weakness right into the ground. 

I do believe she was very hurt when she called for the meeting of her detractors and they continued to stab her in the back. Don't bother ever again. Racists are never, ever interested in the truth, they are interested in weakness and opportunities to cut people to pieces. I am a bit surprised. I am hurt now. It's unfortunate.

She needs to sue.

It is an equality issue based in ethnic realities, physical realities at times and the right to be fashionable. When men cut their hair or shave their heads it isn't even a question. The bias that a woman has to have hair longer than what Ms. Lee is wearing as her fashion statement is ridiculous. Her hair style is not at all a political statement designed to inspire comment. The viewer obviously wasn't exposed to her reality of idea of appropriate fashion flair and it was not his place to exhibit any hate toward her for being polite and correct. I can't the station actually fired this woman for this reason. This is ridiculous.

Jamil Smith, @JamilSmith

5:34 pm on 12/12/2012

KTBS meteorologist (click here) Rhonda Lee was fired last month from her job at ABC’s Shreveport, Louisiana affiliate–a position she had held for almost a year. It was not for anything she said on-air, or in the newsroom. It was for responding to viewer comments online regarding her hair, comments such as these from a viewer identified as Emmitt Vascocu, written on the station’s Facebook page on Oct. 1:...

Excuse me? This is as much a gender issue, fashion freedom as it is an ethnic issue. That is the famous Al Roker. We don't mind he has short or absent hair. Why should anyone be offended by a woman with the same fashion statement. Women have hair loss, too. So, what's the problem!

This is Naomi Sims. This photo appeared on a "Time Magazine" cover with the title "Black Models Take the Center Stage." (click here)

The model to the right is Chanel Iman. Man, talk about chic.

And then there is the gorgeous Grace Jones.

Get out of my life with this baloney about long hair for women. The eyes have it !!!!!!

Every country in the world is going to do their darnest to undermine USA's quality of life.

...Bracing for planned tariffs on their products, (click here) Chinese makers of solar-power have cut back production at home and in the United States.

The moves are in response to the Nov 8 ruling by the Commerce Department's International Trade Commission that US solar-panel makers have been hurt by Chinese competitors that, according to Washington, engaged in illegal dumping and received illegal government subsidies.

The ruling, which clears the way for implementing tariffs of as much as 36 percent, capped an ITC investigation that was prompted by an October 2011 complaint from the US unit of Germany's SolarWorld AG. Other US-based solar companies have supported SolarWorld's case....

The Nebraska Governor Heineman speaks about trade in the way it is suppose to exist. Goods from all nations are suppose to compete and give their people a quality of life. The problems comes when cheap labor undermines the healthy balance of trade. President Obama has been pushing back against that unfair competition to return the USA economy to where it is suppose to be. Every legislator of every federal, state and local authority should be doing the same thing. This is not protectionism, but, it is safe guarding a vital American economy necessary for so many reasons, including, 'Balance of Power.'

Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman (click here) led a trade mission to China in July to enhance the state's economic relationship with China. Governor Heineman recently sat down with China Daily in Tampa Florida while attending the Republican National Convention and shared his views on how expanding Nebraska-China relations will benefit both countries.

And that was balance of power, not a destructive force that can march into any country on Earth to exploit their natural resources. The countries themselves do a heck of a job exploiting their natural resources already without our help. Do I understand the North Korean satellite is out of control? Well, I wouldn't laugh, they did it, they'll fix it eventually.

"But, that isn't the way the world works."

Those words are my all time favorite Republican rhetoric. My reply is always, "No, I suppose not, especially when Republicans set policy or should I say don't set policy and ignore their responsibilities to the citizens of the USA." 

Any fiscal cliff will be irrelevant once wage labor is back where it belongs.

Long term changes are unrealistic at this point in the USA recovery. No doubt there are going to be budget cuts, but, there is a difference between budget cuts in the next fiscal year as opposed to long term changes that are unrelated to current problems.

Long term changes do not address the changes in government spending as of New Years Eve. They are unrelated and that is the sincere problem in having Republicans move to preserve the Middle Class tax rates while letting the Bush Tax Cuts expire.

The New Years Eve deadline is more than interesting realizing the revenues to the USA Treasury automatically go up and the national debt automatically start to be paid. But, it impacts the Middle Class. The Middle Class is adjusting to the reality the Republicans don't value their wage and spending priorities.

Getting Republicans to actually address the fiscal issues of the USA is the challenge. The entitlements are not related AT ALL to the anticipated end of the Bush Tax Cuts on New Years Eve.

Rather than empowering Republican arguments to cut entitlements, Americans need to discuss whether accepting the end of the Bush Tax Cuts need to be balanced with increased wages, benefits and stabilizing the American economy. We need to stop the 'cheap labor' effects of outsourcing. We need to make the American economy our own again. It doesn't necessarily mean ending Wall Street, but, it does mean making Wall Street respect our Middle Class.

If Wall Street doesn't want to respect the Middle Class and our STANDARD OF LIVING to protect the sovereignty of the USA, then we need to take it away from them. When Nixon went into China it wasn't to empower the impoverishment of the American people. He opened China to improve the standard of living and quality of life of the Chinese people. China, India, Iraq, Brazil and Russia weren't suppose to be draconian to the USA economy. They were suppose to take example of the American economy and emulate it for their own people.

Outsourcing happened because CEOs found 'easy bonus' money while destroying their own product base when Americans increasingly entered poverty.

When CEOs finally learn they can't push the American people into an impoverished dynamic that is impossible to recover from, they'll find welcome in the economy in the USA. The problem for Wall Street includes "The Bain Effect" and quick paths to wealth. Those days have to be over. The Middle Class of the USA has to be empowered to protect their own country from loss of its constitutional meaning.

Our constitution is not about wealth of the few, it is about the empowerment of the majority.

The only relationship CEOs should have with the American people and their government is to pay taxes and seek assistance through the State Department for in roads to facilitate a better economy for other nations. Russia is a great example. Russia has incredible bureaucracy. If Russia wants to increase the quality of life of their people through welcoming investment from Wall Street firms there is a lot to be done. For the most part, Russia has worked very hard to facilitate those changes. It is a cultural change and an infrastructure change, but, it is coming along. There is no reason why every large nation cannot do the same thing the USA does. No nation should rely on export and import to have a satisfying economy.

There is a progression of facilitating nations to move their economies forward without destroying the quality of life of the Middle Class of the USA. Tourism and cultural exchanges are the beginnings of such a dynamic. But, to remove manufacturing from the USA is not the answer for any Wall Street company. Removing manufacturing to another country in the hopes less costs will result in higher profits only reduces their product base. When cheap labor is available in Mexico or other nations where does Wall Street think this is all going? Their own labor in any nation won't be able to afford their products and produce real profits rather than 'profits of deterioration.'

That is what is so "W"rong about the Republican ideology. Reducing taxes on corporations has not and will not spawn economic growth in the modern era. When the wealthy were paying 98% income tax in the time of FDR that might be true, but, in the year 2012 there is plenty of monies left over after they pay taxes for their growth and comfort. The tax cutting has gotten far out of control while proving it accomplishes nothing anymore. There is no job growth or economic expansion when taxes are cut on the wealthy.

Wages are far more important to economic growth than tax cuts for the wealthy. The expansion of any economy is accomplished by empowering the Middle Class and not destroying it. The Republican rhetoric is draconian to the USA.

Politically, the DNC has to believe in their mission and provide a strong opposition to the propaganda of the Right Wing Media. They are assaulting our economy and our sovereignty for the sole purpose of existing rather than serving a purpose to the country. No Right Wing Media broadcast can be credited for improving the jobs number of the USA, quite the contrary, they seek to destroy it to turn citizens against their best interest.

Posted on Thu, Dec. 13, 2012 07:20 AM

BY DON KUSLER

...On the fiscal front, House Republicans must drop their intransigent resistance to higher tax rates on our most fortunate households as part of an overall response to our national debt problem.

In deals struck last year, President Obama has already agreed to over a trillion dollars in spending cuts over the next decade. Now, the spirit of compromise requires that House Speaker John Boehner put a realistic revenue increase on the table (click here) ....

It is time to move forward. It is time for the people of the USA to stop their sacrifice of wrongful wars and put their lives back into order by increased wages and the return of The Union. It is time to rebuild the USA.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/12/13/3963757/gop-should-bow-to-voters-wishes.html#storylink=cp

Federal judge orders Healthbridge to reinstate employees, restore wages and benefits, and bargain with union (click here)

A federal judge has ordered a Connecticut nursing home chain to offer reinstatement to approximately 600-700 workers, to rescind changes made to employee wages and benefits, and to bargain in good faith with the union that has long represented its employees...

To the right are the members of the NLRB; Mark Gas, Brian Hayes, Sharon Block and Richard F. Griffin, Jr.

When Republicans say they want less government they seek to victimize the Middle Class and not empower it.

Drastic proof of the seismic dangers of hydraulic fracturing.

do-it-yourself earthquake liquification (click here)

Liquefaction produces deterioration more rapidly depending on the soils. There is no soil or rock that completely withstands the dynamic. Every place seismic activity occurs there is the danger for liquefaction.

Scientists can be corrupt as well. For decade after decade scientists receiving funding from the petroleum industry attempted to say the only problem with increased global temperatures due to human induction would be ice melt and a mild rise in the sea level. They continued to say that even after 90% of the world's scientists state otherwise. Today, the same phenomena holds true with hydraulic fracturing. But, where there is one scientists willing to side with the petroleum industry, there are numerous others that state otherwise. I don't know about you, but, 90% is a strong majority in my opinion. Scientists aren't virginal. There are good ones and bad ones, just like politicians. But 90% majority opinion should be enough proof for any government.

...The editorial points to one seismologist, (click here) Oklahoma Geological Survey's Austin Holland, who said, "until you can prove that it's not a natural earthquake, you should assume it's a natural earthquake." However, experts believe that the November 2011 earthquake and other events in Oklahoma -- such as the drastic increase from six earthquakes between 2000 and 2008 to 850 earthquakes between January 2010 and March 2011 in Oklahoma County -- point to a link between fracking-related activites, specifically wastewater injection, and seismic activity. Similar links have also been made in Dallas, Texas , Ohio, and Arkansas. Scientists from the United States Geological Survey also presented a report in April that found that "seismicity rate changes" in Arkansas and Oklahoma "are almost certainly manmade," although it remains unclear if the changes were related specifically to fracking or to the rate of oil and gas production....