Members of congress are threatening to vote against the War Supplemental because of the cash for clunkers provision or the IMF line of credit. However, it is the issue at the core of the bill, funding the escalation of the war in Afghanistan, that really justifies its defeat.
What the Military Does
The United States Military is the finest fighting force that has ever existed. Service members are trained to defeat any enemy with lighting fast and overwhelming force. Theirs is not work of nuance and diplomacy. They are trained to hate the enemy. The enemy in this case is indistinguishable from a civilian.
We hear a lot about the need for the military to provide security in Afghanistan so that the government can function, institutions can take root, and the country can develop. When I think about the military providing security in an area, I assume they set up a perimeter and make sure anyone coming in and out goes through check points where they can be screened for weapons. Something like a more thorough version of what happens when we go through airport security.
There are checkpoints to be sure, but what ‘securing’ an area actually means is sending marines on door to door raids of an area, often in the dead of night. You don’t knock on doors, the vets told me, you kick them in, storm the building, drag people out of bed – often tying their hands and even hooding them until you are confident you know where every person in the building is. Then you look for weapons and explosives which usually aren’t there. If anyone resists, you beat and arrest them. Your orders are to detain, and sometimes to kill anyone who looks suspicious.
There is an assumption that security brings stability, but this kind of security only fans the flames of the insurgency.
The City of Los Angeles set a goal to get 20% of its power from renewable sources by 2010. The program the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) put in place gives people the choice of whether the money they pay in electrical bills will go to fund coal power, or renewable energy.
The program is administered through the LADWP, and it allows consumers to sign up to get part or all of their power from renewable sources for an extra three cents per kilowatt-hour. So, if your electricity bill is $50 per month, you could get 20% renewable power for another three dollars, or 100% renewable power for $15 more per month.
In it’s 2007 annual report, the LADWP reported that more than 22,000 homes and apartments had signed up for the green power program for at least some of their power. That’s good, but it only amounts to about 6% of the city’s power. The 2008 numbers aren’t out yet, but we can count on a race against time to meet the goal of 20% by 2010. So if you are in LA, sign up and get coal off of your power bill – and your conscience. If you are not in LA, but have friends here, help us out and send this video around.
The House just voted to pass H.R. 1106, the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009. Over the past four days, the Fighting For Our Homes Campaign produced almost 17,500 petition signatures and countless phone calls urging members to support this legislation.
As we now take the fight to the Senate, we are unveiling this new video and sending it to Senate staff to remind them why the playing field must be leveled for homeowners. Dan’s story is one of greedy lenders abusing the trust of people who play by the rules and try to live the American Dream. Dan lost his house and he is the face of what we are trying to avoid. The Senate must quickly take up bankruptcy reform legislation and pass it.
A greedy father has thieves for children – Serbian Proverb
Can we trust the banks? I guess we are leaning the answer to that question – or we will soon enough. As part of the Fighting for Our Homes Campaign, we documented the story of Gaila, who is being foreclosed upon by wholly-owned JP Morgan Chase subsidiary, EMC Mortgage. Gaila said an eviction notice was posted on her property this past weekend – while the supposed ‘freeze on foreclosures’ was in effect. In Gaila’s case however – betraying the ‘freeze’ is a minor offense compared to the havoc JP Morgan Chase’s EMC is wreaking across the country.
As it turns out – EMC has quite the track record. Along with Bear Stearns, they paid $28 million to settle with the FTC on charges of unlawful mortgage servicing and debt collection practices in September of 2008. They are featured on a site called the Ripoff Report, where there are 261 complaints about EMC Mortgage, including customers being penalized for being “late” when they weren’t, repeated phone calls, rude treatment, no help with mortgage modifications and numerous other problems. We also saw news reports about how EMC treats its customers, testimonials from customers, and even firsthand accounts from former employees.
So now, in addition to using TARP money to buy jets, throw parties, redecorate offices and bailout the NBA before lending money to struggling small businesses and helping homeowners (the purpose of the TARP funds), it looks like the greedy fathers of the financial industry in America are looking the other way as their wholly-owned subsidiary children continue to rob us blind.
Penny Saldovar had a lot going for her. She had a nice house, and a beautiful family. Then Hurricane Ike roared through the Gulf. Penny’s house was spared, but not completely. When the storm dissipated, Penny’s home had been damaged to the tune of an estimated $18,000. Insurance covered some of the costs of repair but not enough. In her efforts to repair her home, Penny fell behind on her mortgage. Today she is still making payments but she is three months behind, and at risk of foreclosure. Penny and her family are exactly the kind of people who will be saved when congress enacts something like President Obama’s plan – if they still have their home.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been working on the Fighting For Our Homes Campaign, helping to collect stories of the people across the country who are facing foreclosure. Penny in Texas, Meagan in California, Debra in Pennsylvania, Maria in Arizona, William and Barbara in Florida and many, many more may fall victim to the crisis in the days and weeks before help arrives. We can’t let that happen.
The vote on the stimulus yesterday was unbelievable. After all of the meetings and concessions, not one Republican voted for the bill. That means that Republican leadership organized an all-hands, mandatory ‘no’ vote. My understanding of Congress is limited, but I’m pretty sure that sort of thing doesn’t happen without a damn good reason, so I set about trying to suss out what the reason was. I read everything I could in the minutes and hours after the vote, and while what I came up with seems ridiculous, I thought I’d toss it out here and see what comes of it.
The Republicans are saying it was because they disagreed with the content of the bill. Their alternative was a bill loaded to the gills with corporate and high-income tax breaks. I do not have a PhD in economics but it seems to me that the Bush tax cuts (which are still in effect) basically sent us down that road already – and while I still have a job (at the moment), it seems like that didn’t go so well. Continue reading →
No matter how you feel about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the sacrifices military families make in wartime are immense.
In Their Boots is a one-of-a-kind online show that gives viewers a glimpse into the world of service members and their families. This video is a trailer for a special Veterans Day presentation. Join us Tuesday November 11th for three real stories focusing on the lives of veterans affected by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Unlike Memorial Day, when we pay tribute to those who have served our country and are no longer with us, Veterans Day is about recognizing the sacrifices of the more than 20 million men and women who have served and are serving in the Armed Forces. I invite you to take a moment to consider how your life would be different if someone in your family were serving overseas, or struggling to rebuild a life after finally returning home.
This is the subject of In Their Boots. Real people. Real Stories. A resource for connecting service members and veterans with support services, and a resource for engaging volunteers in support services. It is all at www.intheirboots.com. I hope you'll take a look.
