June 2009

  • The Road to Copenhagen: An Update

    By ecoscott on 6/30/09 9:40am
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    Europe and China both came out this week asking the U.S. to do more than what is in their landmark climate change bill. As countries around the world prepare for the Copenhagen summit where global powers are poised to make pivotal agreements around goals and standards for dealing with climate change, the major powers and emissions producers are clamoring for position and relevance. Politics are by no means reserved to the halls of Washington, and long gone is the time when Washington and the U.S. could think of itself as an island in the midst of the climate change debate. The idea of not participating in the effort to battle the global environmental problems or of not coming out of Copenhagen as part of the agreement the way we did with Kyoto is unacceptable.

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  • 3 Things the GOP should be embarassed about.

    By selecter on 6/21/09 11:21am
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    The GOP is full of embarrassing things, like Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney and President Bush's administration; however there are a few things the GOP should REALLY be shamed for.

     1. Opposing Health Care for All:

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  • Climate Change: The Road to Copenhagen Continues- EU & China

    By ecoscott on 6/20/09 11:43am
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    Two other major players in the climate change world are the European Union and China. China has been using EU benchmarks to gauge their own projections and commitments, a nod toward the EU’s self-proclaimed leadership in the global battle against climate change. The EU is now offering assistance to China and India deal with carbon emissions.

    Remember when you were a little kid and you were eating in the kitchen and instead of cleaning up your crumbs on the floor you just swept them under the rug? Well, there is a high-tech process called Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) that sounds kind of similar. You take the emissions from coal-fired power plants and bury them. Like, underground.

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  • Climate Change: The Road to Copenhagen Continues

    By ecoscott on 6/20/09 11:03am
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    The politics leading up the Copenhagen summit in December are fascinating. Major players like the EU, China, Russia and the United States are all jockeying for position, some playing a few cards, some holding them- and I’m sure there is some bluffing going on as we still have almost 6 months to go.

    I wrote in Politics Report how the Democrat-sponsored climate change bill is still stalled in committees as lawmakers work to satisfy Democrats, and further satisfy Republican legislators whose votes are necessary to pass the bill through the House.

    Russia rang in with a long-delayed play of their own.

    The general guideline from green groups and developing nations has been a request that Industrialized nations cut their emissions 25-40% from 1990 levels, a number reached in reference to UN climate scientist panel suggested cuts.

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  • Climate Change Legislation Update

    By ecoscott on 6/20/09 9:32am
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    The Democrat-controlled Congress is focusing on creating legislation to combat climate change- perhaps the most far-reaching and influential shift in administrative and legislative policy in decades. The New York Times calls it a comprehensive energy and global warming bill- but how the bill will look once it satisfies everyone enough to pass both the House and the Senate is still anyone's guess.

    In fact, the Democratic Party still doesn't agree with itself on everything, though the House Democrats say that they are close to an agreement and hope to be ready to move forward next week. Whether they have a bill that will satisfy rural and fiscal conservative Representatives is not apparent. 

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  • Climate Change: The road to Copenhagen

    By ecoscott on 6/19/09 9:22pm
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    The biggest culprits and the biggest players in climate change seem to be the United States, the European Union, and China. With the meeting in Copenhagen of these three with everyone else who has a say and a responsibility, preliminary meetings and decisions are in full swing.

    China recently unveiled a pledge to do as much as the EU does. The U.S. continues to talk big but do relatively little. The EU continues to set the pace and the tone. This week in Brussels the European Union agreed to the basis of its collective financial contribution to the coming global climate change deal. This financial contribution will go primarily to help developing nations deal with the effects of climate change.

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  • President Obama is a Fly Killer!

    By sarajean on 6/19/09 8:32pm
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    I just knew there was some kind of catch. A man just couldn’t be that wicked cool, smart, tech-savvy and generally all-around groovy with two cute kiddies and an awesome, intelligent wife. Something had to give.

    Behold, Obama the Fly Killer!

    A fly on the wall has no business during a White House interview, says President Obama. While CNBC’s John Harwood attempted to get an interview in the East Room, the fly simply wouldn’t stop interrupting, buzzing his own intelligible questions into the president’s ear—and our Commander in Chief had had enough.

    Swatting the offending creature once it landed on his hand, he put a quick end to the multi-eyed invader.

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  • Immigration: Where does Obama stand?

    By ecoscott on 6/19/09 8:29pm
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    What does it mean to be American?

    America is often referred to as a melting pot, as a land of immigrants, of opportunity, of refuge. At the same time it is characterized by a brutal and violent history of intolerance, murder and exploitation. While the Statue of Liberty has come to stand, both literally and figuratively, as a guardian over immigrants and the American dream of a “better life,” America could just as easily have the statue of a gun grace its money, sacred grounds and serve as a figure-head for its history.

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  • Arizona Election Tie-Breaker: Drawing Cards

    By becksta on 6/18/09 12:25am
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    The Winning HandThe Winning HandNot every disputed election ends with in revolutions in the streets. Take the case of Cave Creek, AZ (wonder how they picked that name), who recently had a tie-breaker in their election for the top CIty Council seat.

    The Arizona state legislature mandates that any election ties are to be determined in a game of chance. Perhaps not feeling lucky enough to toss a coin, roll dice or draw straws, the incumbent Thomas McGuire and Adam Trenk decided to go a more traditional route,  (no they did not have a duel) and instead decided the election based on the highest card.

    Imagine the made-for-tv movie with the accompanying sappy music and/or drumroll to set the scene.

    The incumbent drew first. Again, we are talking cards, not guns here. It was a six of hearts.


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  • Gay Rights in the Obama Administration

    By ecoscott on 6/17/09 11:09pm
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    This past April the House of Representatives voted to approve an expansion of the Federal "hate crime" laws. Under the legislation "hate crime" will cover gay and lesbian citizens.

    Wait, raise your hand if you knew that gay-bashing was not Federally considered a hate crime.

    What?

    But wait, there's more. The expansion of "hate crime" laws is not even close to becoming official. It hasn't passed in the senate. How could this possibly not just go through with flying (Gay Pride) colors?

    Do I remember the Bush Administration's stance on Gay rights? Wait, did they have a stance or a turned head? What about McCain's general approach? Yes, I realize that there is serious opposition to Gay rights, especially with all the progress that same sex marriages are having. It is pretty standard for Republicans to oppose anything related to Gay rights.

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  • Bribery in the Sen. Ensign Scandal?

    By becksta on 6/17/09 2:53pm
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    Senator EnsignSenator EnsignSchadenfreude has to be my new favorite German word, far outranking Kindergarten and Gesundheit not for the sheer pleasure I get from it falling off of my tongue, but for its meaning. Delight when others fall.

    While I personally could care less who is doing who, I do find it interesting that the latest sexual scandal to hit the US involving yet another Republican politician involves not only sex, but possible bribery as well. "The 19-year-old son of a woman who reportedly had an affair with Nevada Sen. John Ensign was being paid by the National Republican Senatorial Committee during the relationship, federal election records show."

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  • Controversy over Climate Change Bill Doesn't Change

    By ecoscott on 6/13/09 3:28pm
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    The Democrats currently have a climate change bill before the House. Al Gore is a fan, the Republicans are not.

    Pretty standard.

    In his party's weekly address Republican Congressman Mike Pence, Republican Congressman used his party's weekly address to say that the Democratic energy plan will cost Americans far too much money and that the Republicans have a much better plan.

    Again, pretty standard.

    Arguments between the parties are nothing new- but the reasons for the incessant arguing are becoming less standard. As the green business world continues to evolve, the classic lines between business and democratic ideals are blurring. The Triple Bottom Line (People/Planet/Profit) is blending what is good for the environment and the people with what is good for the bottom line. It won't work anymore for the two parties to argue over how a climate change bill should look- what they should be arguing about is how to make it work for everyone.

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  • Health Care for Everybody

    By becksta on 6/5/09 5:39pm
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    Health Care for Everybody?Health Care for Everybody?It's looking seriously like the United States of America, who consistently touts itself as the free-est of all nations, might finally be catching up with the rest of the western world in terms of universal health care. It's about time.

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  • From deep in the desert of the lost...

    By selecter on 6/4/09 9:33pm
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    The Osama bin Limbaugh Show: Coming Soon!The Osama bin Limbaugh Show: Coming Soon!Coming this fall to MSNBC, two of the most beloved troglodytes the world has ever known! Two men who hate Barack Obama more than health coverage, two men who aren't afraid to speak their minds. One runs an ambiguous terror network, and one killed the credibility of the GOP, its the Osama bin Limbaugh Show!

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  • Hannity reaching, Rush blubbering, a party floundering.

    By selecter on 6/4/09 8:23pm
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    As I watched the Charming Sean Hannity on the Fox News Network try to get Newt Gingrich to blast Obama's Egypt speech I was caught off guard as Gingrich sorta didn't have much to say about it. As hard as Hannity tried, Newt just could not be coaxed into an attack on the President. Hannity even set him up with the great one liner of implied significance calling Obama's speech "The worst day in the history of American foreign policy."  It was surprising to see Newt's complacency considering his recent attack on Superior Court Justice Nominee Sotomayor.

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