Those worried that Obama might be all talk when it comes to needed reform had a real scare in July, when the senator failed to show up to vote for the Stop Excessive Speculation Act, a bill designed to curb rampant oil speculation. Oil speculators provide the perfect microcosm of what happened to the economy under Bush. Back in 2001, investment banks like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan got together and created an online exchange called the ICE for trading energy commodities. The ICE ended up buying the British-regulated International Petroleum Exchange; it then opened trading windows in the U.S., allowing Wall Street investment banks to make oil-futures trades on American soil, on their very own commodities exchange, without any federal regulation whatsoever. “In financial terms, they were playing blackjack at tables where they themselves were the dealers, in casinos they themselves owned,” says Warren Gunnels, a senior policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders. “It was crazy.” Trading on the ICE had a massive impact on U.S. gasoline prices, and more than one legislator wondered if energy speculators were manipulating the market, as energy traders like Enron had been before. The speculation bill was designed to regulate the ICE and place limits on trades. But on the day before Obama returned from his eight-day, eight-country, megadazzling international photo op, Democrats failed by a vote of 50-43 to force a vote on the bill, as heavy lobbying by investment banks like Goldman Sachs torpedoed the effort. Not only did Obama not show up to vote, he appeared at a public forum three days later flanked by Jon Corzine and Robert Rubin, two former Goldman executives, to discuss how to revive the economy. Here you have the basic formula of campaign contributions in a nutshell: Powerful investment bank gives big money to candidate, needed reform requires candidate to cross said investment bank, candidate *** out and finds way to be gone at the moment of truth, candidate resurfaces later in arms of aforementioned investment bankers. Obama’s absence on oil speculation was eerily reminiscent of his previous decision to change his mind about giving retroactive immunity to telecom companies for spying on Americans. Obama withdrew his pledge to filibuster the immunity bill right around the time the Democrats announced that AT&T would be sponsoring the Democratic convention. So no filibuster on retroactive immunity from the top Democrat — but conventiongoers in Denver will get tote bags emblazoned with the AT&T logo. So that’s something. Article address: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/22210615/candidates_for_sale/3 This is just a small portion of the article. I would suggest everyone read the rest.

The Obama administration said Wednesday it has suspended joint military operations with Honduras to protest a coup that forced President Manuel Zelaya into exile. The U.S. withheld stronger action in hopes of negotiating a peaceful return of the country’s elected leader. The Organization of American States, meeting in Washington, gave Honduran coup leaders three days to restore Zelaya to power — under threat of suspending Honduras’s OAS membership. Afterward, several officials said the administration is still reviewing the possibility of cutting off U.S. aid. Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said, “We continue to monitor the situation and will respond accordingly as events transpire.” At the State Department, spokesman Ian C. Kelly said the department’s top diplomat for the Americas, Thomas Shannon, met with Zelaya at OAS headquarters on Tuesday evening. Kelly would not reveal details, except to say Zelaya thanked the administration for supporting his unconditional return to power. Kelly said he was not aware of any plan to recall the U.S. ambassador from the Honduran capital. Another official, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal deliberations, said the administration believes it stands a better chance of achieving a peaceful outcome if it keeps a diplomat in Tegucigalpa. The official also said the U.S. was not advocating that the matter be taken up by the U.N. Security Council. Kelly said the administration was still studying whether the forced removal of Zelaya was a military coup in a legal sense that would trigger a cutoff or suspension of American financial assistance. “Our legal advisers are actively assessing the facts and the law in question, which we take very seriously,” Kelly said. The administration appeared to be counting on the threat of Honduras having its OAS membership suspended as leverage in getting Zelaya back in power. While the administration joined the OAS in calling for Zelaya’s unconditional return, with no limits on his presidential powers, it also seemed open to some form of compromise. U.S. officials said they were pleased that Zelaya, who had vowed to return to Honduras on Thursday, put that off after the OAS announced the three-day deadline for the country’s interim leaders to accept him back. Zelaya was in Panama on Wednesday to attend that country’s presidential inauguration. Zelaya said he would put off his return until the weekend. The decision to suspend U.S. military activities in Honduras was announced by Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman, who said, “We’ve postponed any activities in Honduras right now as we assess that situation.” Whitman would not be specific, but the suspension could have broad implications because the United States runs a large Central American security and counternarcotics operation from a jointly run air base in Honduras. Whitman said only operations affecting Honduras itself are on hold. Earlier, OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza delivered what he called “an ultimatum” for Zelaya’s safe return. In a sharply worded resolution, the OAS said it vehemently condemned the coup and “the arbitrary detention and expulsion” of Zelaya. The coup, the OAS resolution said, has produced an “unconstitutional alteration of the democratic order.” Calling Zelaya’s overthrow an “old-fashioned coup,” Insulza said: “We need to show clearly that military coups will not be accepted. We thought we were in an era when military coups were no longer possible in this hemisphere.” Zelaya has said he intends to return home accompanied by Insulza, the presidents of Argentina and Ecuador and the head of the U.N. General Assembly to seek restoration of his authority. Roberto Micheletti, named by Honduras’ Congress as the new president, said Tuesday that Zelaya could be met with an arrest warrant if he returned. Article address: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090702/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_us_honduras This is totally messed up, Zelaya tried to circumvent Honduras’ constitution to keep himself in power indefinitly and we’re supporting him?! Iran shoots it’s own citizens and we say we don’t care, we’ll still negotiate with you. Now we have a country enforcing it’s constitional laws and we want to punish them for it? This is just disgusting.

interesting. i wonder if anyone will follow arizona with this. really right now i’m thinking this healthcare reform thing is slowing becoming dead in the water.

Definitely scripted, you should watch NEXT–now that’s a funny show because it’s so evident that it’s scripted.

Chrysler Group LLC CEO Sergio Marchionne tells Bloomberg News that the company is burning less of its valuable and limited cash than it was a few months ago, but he doesn’t say how much less. Chrysler is not publicly listed, so Marchionne says he doesn’t have to get into specifics. Chrysler went through $9.6 billion in cash in 2008. The automaker reorganized around what it considered its best assets in Chapter 11 and $6 billion in fresh financing from the U.S. and Canadian governments. “We are still burning cash, but it’s slowed down by far,” the news agency quoted Marchionne. That said, it is not lost on the CEO, who is also head of Fiat’s auto group in Italy, that the American public has a vested interest in knowing some of Chrysler’s specifics. He says he is discussing with the U.S. Treasury auto task force how much information will be disclosed and how often going forward. Fiat owns 20% of Chrysler and is managing the company now after the Federal government lent the automaker billions to stay in business. Today is the day that monthly sales are reported by the automakers. Chrysler, reporters were told yesterday, would issue a press release with sales information. But the automaker plans to discontinue the traditional monthly sales call with reporters to discuss the sales figures in more detail, and offer media outlets an opportunity to ask a few other questions. GM, Ford, Chrysler and Toyota have long held conference calls with reporters to discuss their company and industry trends. Right out of the box, though, Fiat is pulling back access by the media too its executives. Let’s see…a foreign owned company takes over an American icon with the aid of U.S. taxpayer money and then gets, some might say, uppity about disclosing information as a first impression. Hardly seems sociable.

Study finds widening generation gap in US Asked to identify where older and younger people differ most, 47 percent said social values and morality. People age 18 to 29 were more likely to report disagreements over lifestyle, views on family, relationships and dating, while older people cited differences in a sense of entitlement. Those in the middle-age groups also often pointed to a difference in manners. “Around the notion of morality and work ethic, the differences in point of view are pretty much felt across the board,” said Paul Taylor, director of the Pew Social and Demographic Trends Project. He cited a greater tolerance among younger people on cultural issues such as gay marriage and interracial relationships.

Lol hell yeah! What u gettin?

It’s seems an unlikely combination, but is the deal between Toyota and Aston Martin, announced yesterday, such a bad idea? Under the plan, Aston Martin will sell a version of the tiny Toyota iQ (pictured above) called the Cygnet to existing clients. The price is likely to be around $30,000. “Small is beautiful these days,” Ulrich Bez, Aston Martin’s chief executive said yesterday reports the Times of London . “We have to move on from the preconceived ideas regarding what Aston Martin is about.” Predictably, most comments on car blogs have been pretty harsh, ranging from outright rage to disbelief. But why not? The iQ, while not exactly a popular sight on Japan’s roads–I think I’ve seen four since it was released late last year–is a fun, innovative car. In Cygnet form , may be useful for Aston Martin when fuel economy regulations get stricter in the years ahead. Aston Martin when fuel economy regulations get stricter in the years ahead. It may also help Aston Martin enthusiasts assuage concerns, assuming they have any, about the environmental damage caused by their 4.8 liter V8 or 6.0 liter V12 Vantages. And as it’s only going to be sold to Aston Martin owners, it’s not as if the hoi polloi will be able to get their hands on one easily. From Toyota’s point of view, even a small association with a brand like Aston Martin, won’t do any harm. New president Akio Toyoda insisted on June 25, at his first press conference as Toyota chief, that cars must be more than just appliances for getting from A to B. Interestingly, the move seems to have stemmed from a racing friendship built up between Toyoda and Bez. At the June 25 press conference, the Japanese exec name-checked Bez when asked about his love of racing. Under the pseudonym Morizo , Toyoda has been known (most recently in May) to drive a Lexus LF-A in races at Germany’s Nürburgring circuit. Bez, a fellow racer, got in touch with Toyoda after seeing an iQ on show at the track . When asked if he would quit racing now he is boss of the world’s biggest carmaker, Toyoda admitted his colleagues were urging him to hang up his racing overalls but (somewhat unconvincingly) said that driving around the ‘Ring was a good way to test new cars. If the Aston Martin deal works out, perhaps he can use that as an additional argument if he wants to keep racing.

According to the Wall Street Journal, we definitely are not getting the true story. It seems the Honduran military acted to prevent President Zelaya from changing the Constitution of Honduras in an unconstitutional manner. He was violating the law, trying to change things so that he could serve a second term - and none other than Hugo Chavez and the Castros were assisting in this adventure. Which probably explains the rumors that both the Cuban and Venezuelan ambassadors were roughed up. Bottom line - the Honduran military was acting to preserve Honduras’ democracy. If this story is legit, then the fact that Obama was supporting an unconstitutional power grab - and siding with the likes of Hugo Chavez, the Castros, Daniel Ortega - then I really have to wonder how much of a Leftist he really is. Read this - then ask yourself if the Honduran military was wrong

STFU! Why are these two bozos weighing in on the Michael Jackson tragedy? We lost a great artist, we don’t need your thoughts or commentary. Go back into your caves and let the guy RIP and let the family grieve without you trying to steal the spotlight. JEEZ! =================================