Barackface

BBC NEWS | Business | Nobel winners attack Bush economics 7 February, 2003 Ten Nobel prize winning economists have attacked President George W Bush's tax cutting policies. ..... the combination of cutting taxes and increasing spending will mean that the US is set to notch up record budget deficits greater than those run-up by his father more than 10 years ago. ...... "Regardless of how one views the specifics of the Bush plan, there is wide agreement that its purpose is a permanent change in the tax structure and not the creation of jobs and growth in the near term," the economists said in a statement published by the Economic Policy Institute. ...... Nobel economic laureates Joseph Stiglitz, Franco Modigliani and Lawrence Klein reserved much of their scorn for the proposal to cut the tax on share dividend payouts. ..... "The permanent dividend tax cut, in particular, is not credible as a short-term stimulus," the statement said. ..... "Moreover, the proposed tax cuts will generate further inequalities in after-tax income," it said. .... The statement, which has been signed by almost 400 economists ..... "To be effective, a stimulus plan should rely on immediate but temporary spending and tax measures to expand demand and it should also rely on immediate but temporary incentives for investment," they said. .... The seven other Nobel winners who signed the statement were George Akerlof, Kenneth Arrow, Daniel McFadden, Paul Samuelson, Robert Solow, Douglass North and William Sharpe.
Stiglitz attacks 'fiscal madness' Bush's plans were "fiscal madness, fiscal irresponsibility". ... Bush could spend less than a sixth of what he is planning to on stimulating the economy .... "So rather than spending $600bn on the tax proposal that Bush has, the kind of proposals I'm talking about would cost under $100bn and deliver enormous amounts, directly and in the short run, without delivering huge long-run deficits." ..... Formerly a senior figure in both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, he stepped down in order to criticise both agencies, and the US too, for their policies towards the developing world. ..... the package Mr Bush is pushing would make things worse by stocking up massive deficits for the future. .... "You should get money out to people who will spend it and spend it quickly," he said.
Obama's Cuba Stand Breaks Rank Washington Post want to see ailing Fidel Castro's communist government fall ..... Clinton, the New York senator and Democratic front-runner, issued a statement reiterating her support for the current policy toward Cuba ...... Joe Biden also supports the status quo. ...... Bill Richardson has also called for an end to the travel and money restrictions for Cuban-Americans .... Chris Dodd has said he would lift all travel restrictions .... Dennis Kucinich supports scrapping the embargo. ..... "We must not weaken our policy on Cuba until the Castro regime is dismantled, all political prisoners are freed and Cuba transitions to free and fair elections," Romney said. ....... Obama's position is in line with what many academics have long tried to tell Washington.

Hillary's unthinking stand on Cuba and reluctance to go beyond the same old, same old is proof she is Bush-Cheney Lite on foreign policy. She walked lockstep with them for the war on Iraq. And she is lockstep with them on Cuba.

The best way to bring about positive change in Cuba is by engaging that little country in all ways possible. There should be a frontal assault of total engagement. At all levels possible. Engage in total trade. Engage in total people to people exchange. Have President Obama hold a summit meeting with Fidel Castro where Obama publicly asks Fidel to release the 75 dissidents in jail.

Cuba will likely evolve into a multiparty democracy of state funded parties that keeps its wonderful education and health policies. Cuba should not have to collapse first and then try and start imitating America and fail, and upon succeeding then realize Americans are trying to have publicly financed elections. The road to becoming a democracy of publicly financed elections for Cuba does not go through America. America does not do it right.

Even if the idea is to bring Fidel down, the policy that has been in place for half a century has clearly not worked. Fidel saw Eisenhower. Fidel saw Kennedy come and go. He saw LBJ. He saw Nixon come and go. Fidel saw Ford, Carter. He saw Reagan, he saw Bush. He saw Clinton. He has seen Bush return. He will see Hillary come and go and he will still be there if the same US policy is followed.

Hillary is so clearly wrong on several levels at once.

Obama is right. And he is not even thinking of the primary election in taking this clear stand. Most Cubans in Florida I hear are Republican. But what is right is right, and it has to be said.

Obama is at work to build a grand majority. He is on his way.

In The News

Obama's Cuba Stand Breaks Rank Washington Post want to see ailing Fidel Castro's communist government fall ..... Clinton, the New York senator and Democratic front-runner, issued a statement reiterating her support for the current policy toward Cuba ...... Joe Biden also supports the status quo. ...... Bill Richardson has also called for an end to the travel and money restrictions for Cuban-Americans .... Chris Dodd has said he would lift all travel restrictions .... Dennis Kucinich supports scrapping the embargo. ..... "We must not weaken our policy on Cuba until the Castro regime is dismantled, all political prisoners are freed and Cuba transitions to free and fair elections," Romney said. ....... Obama's position is in line with what many academics have long tried to tell Washington.

Clinton and Obama: a slight shift in tone on Iraq? Boston Globe "if we put an additional 30,000 of our troops ... into Baghdad, that's going to quell some of the violence short-term. I don't think there's ever been any doubt about that." Yet there is still no military solution to the problems in Iraq, he added.

Obama: No military solution in Iraq Boston Herald "All of our top military commanders recognize that there is no military solution in Iraq ..... I have pushed for a careful and responsible redeployment of troops engaged in combat operations out of Iraq, joined with direct and sustained diplomacy in the region." ...... Fred Thompson said the U.S. must rebuild its military to fight global terrorism because leaders "took a holiday" in the 1990s after the end of the Cold War.

Could Obama Pull Off His 30 Percent Solution? Washington Post, United States he has suggested in the past that African-Americans will strongly back one of their own, much as Clinton's campaign has argued the same about women and Edwards of Southerners.
Bushies Game Obama's Chances CBS News, NY it seems that some of the president's political advisers are catching Obama-mania. ...... one Bush adviser who accurately predicted Bill Clinton would emerge from a crowded 1992 field put the odds at near even that Obama would eke out a victory. ..... Obama has to prove that "he can walk over hot coals, because that's what it's going to take."
Congress's lone Iraq war vet backs Obama Boston Globe, United States
Would Obama Meet With Castro? Atlantic Online "Without preconditions" does not mean without prior assumptions or bargaining positions; it does not mean a tabula rasa.

Google searches are up, data show Los Angeles Times
Google Creates Search Tools for South Asian Languages (Update1) Bloomberg unveiled two tools to help users with English keyboards write in Hindi and search for terms in 14 languages spoken in India and other countries in South Asia. ...... on-screen keyboard ... Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil and other languages ...... The other translates Hindi words spelled phonetically in the English alphabet into Hindi characters. Both programs can be downloaded from the Google Labs Web site. ...... the 21.1 million Internet users in India, the world's fastest-growing group of Internet subscribers ..... The country's subscription numbers jumped 33 percent in 2006, beating Russia's 21 percent increase and China's 20 percent growth. Google Labs, Official Google Blog, Google Indic Transliteration, Nepali Keyboard
Google buys stake in Chinese social-networking website Boston Globe The country is second only to the United States in Internet users, with almost 90 million
Amitabh, Lata discover new friendship Hindustan Times Amitabh makes it a point to attend any function Lata invites him to. ..... Amitabh said: "It can't be helped. When Lataji asked me to inaugurate a new wing in her hospital I instantly agreed. ... No one says no to Lataji. ..... She is far ahead of me in every respect.
Bachchan starrer selected for Toronto Film Festival Hindustan Times
Wal-Mart beats Amazon to music downloads Financial Times

Our Main Goal: Freedom In Cuba by Barack Obama in Miami Herald When my father was a young man living in Kenya, the freedom and opportunity of the United States exerted such a powerful draw that he moved halfway around the world to pursue his dreams here. My father's story is not unique. The same has been true for tens of millions of people, from every continent -- including for the many Cubans who have come and made their lives here since the start of Fidel Castro's dictatorship almost 50 years ago. ....... just 90 miles from our shores ... a government that clings to discredited ideology and authoritarian control. ..... help the Cuban people become less dependent on the Castro regime in fundamental ways ....... seeing Cuba join the roster of stable and economically vibrant democracies in the Western Hemisphere .... the Castro regime's deplorable March 2003 jailing of 75 of Cuba's most prominent and courageous dissidents ....... an unfortunate fact that his departure by no means guarantees the arrival of freedom on the island. ...... I will use aggressive and principled diplomacy to send an important message ...... those ideals will have as transformative effect on Cubans today as they did on my father more than 50 years ago.

New Romney Ad Targets Illegal Migrants Washington Post criticizes "sanctuary cities" for illegal immigrants ..... An estimated half-million illegal immigrants live in New York .... as governor Romney ordered state police to enforce existing immigration laws, opposed driver's licenses for illegal immigrants and insisted children be taught English.
Obama Presidency a 'Stretch' for Voters Washington Post a multistate primary on Feb. 5 that could determine the nomination. ...... Obama has the broadest network of grass-roots activists .... a string of shaky debate appearances, a streak he ended Sunday with a strong performance in Iowa ....... I'm also equipped with the experience and judgment to be the next commander in chief ..... She is a second-term senator who has never run a government or business. Edwards served one term in the Senate. ...... "I've been in public office longer than Hillary Clinton has" .... "I've been in public office longer than John Edwards has." ..... Obama seems to be relying on a calm, comfortable campaign demeanor to a send the signal that he is a man in control. .... wrestle control of the campaign narrative from Clinton .. "If we're able to do that," he said, "then we will win."
2008: Obama Speaks New York Times a lengthy interview and a series of stories out today, a speech planned for this afternoon and an Op-ed in a major newspaper ...... “calling for ‘unrestricted rights’ for Cuban Americans to visit and send money to family in Cuba.” ....... “Michigan is poised to move its presidential primaries to Jan. 15 or earlier, becoming the latest state to leapfrog to the front of the voting calendar in the ongoing battle for relevance in choosing the next White House occupant.”
Obama pushes for 'serious policy,' not 'posturing' on Cuba USA Today Cuban-American connections to family in Cuba are not only a basic right in humanitarian terms, but also our best tool for helping to foster the beginnings of grass-roots democracy on the island. Accordingly, I will grant Cuban Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send remittances to the island. ...... If a post-Fidel government begins opening Cuba to democratic change, the United States (the president working with Congress) is prepared to take steps to normalize relations and ease the embargo that has governed relations between our countries for the last five decades. That message coming from my administration in bilateral talks would be the best means of promoting Cuban freedom. ...... Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is "going with the status quo" and that John Edwards has "expressed support" for the economic embargo of that nation. The leading Republicans also support current policy toward Cuba
Obama: Ease travel limits on Cuban-Americans Chicago Tribune making them more dependent on the Castro regime, thus isolating them from the transformative message carried by Cuban-Americans ........ The Cuban-exile vote is considered key to winning Florida. ..... Last week, the Miami-Dade Democratic Party came out against the restrictions. ..... "Sasha asked Mommy about it," Obama said in Salem, N.H. "She said, 'Daddy already has a wife' or something like that." ...... "I guarantee you African-American turnout, if I'm the nominee, goes up 30 percent around the country, minimum," he said in Concord, N.H.
Obama Girl not a hit with Obama's girl Chicago Sun-Times
Obama on ‘Obama Girl’ New York Times
Obama disses his 'girl' Boston Globe
Article:CAMPAIGN 2008 / Clinton volunteer army ramps up in Cali:/c ... San Francisco Chronicle "HillStars" ... "HillCorps" ..... organize trained volunteers - 1,000 strong across the state - ...... the "1,000-20-200" plan ..... will use "the power of the Internet with traditional field methods to create millions of voter contacts ...... a 27-page "HillStar" campaign manual .... secure the votes of potentially millions of absentee voters in California's rich delegate field before Democratic voters in Iowa and New Hampshire ever weigh in ...... in 2008, "the largest number of votes cast at a relatively early stage" will be in California. ..... Beginning Jan. 7 - when voters can begin to cast absentee ballots in the state - "we have a 29-day election" ....... calls for unprecedented organization and innovation in California to get those voters to the polls ..... "the power of networks, the growth of social networks, will be the strength of this campaign." ..... the efforts by the Clinton campaign to build, train and organize a California bank of 20,000 volunteers is a savvy move. ..... regardless of the results in Iowa and New Hampshire. ...... Lee Atwater pursued a similar strategy in 1988 for then-Vice President George H.W. Bush, intended to establish a grassroots network to send a message of overpowering strength - and inevitability - to his rivals. ...... "An organization like this doesn't build her lead. It's designed to protect it ..... "If enough absentees are cast (in California) before Iowa and New Hampshire, she's protected against an upset in one of those states ....... "1,000-20-200" plan .... training 1,000 "HillStar" corps members to then train and manage 20 other "Hillary Corps" campaign volunteers each, who in turn will be "contacting 200 voters in their social networks and convincing those people to vote for Sen. Clinton ....... The most active volunteers will marshal forces with the help of house parties - there were 47 statewide for Clinton last week - as well as one-on-one efforts to meet and talk to voters at schools, homes, coffee shops and, increasingly, by e-mail and in online conversations. ...... "We need to create millions of conversations with voters, and that doesn't cost millions ...... cell phone-wielding volunteers get together and create their own roving phone banks, talking to voters at night and on weekends, when call times are free ....... The Clinton campaign said it is targeting a still largely overlooked factor in the 2008 presidential race: the crucial role of early primary voters in the nation's most populous state. ........ as many as half of the state's 6.7 million registered Democrats could be absentee voters in the 2008 presidential primary. ...... "up to half a million votes will be cast in California in the week before the Iowa caucus ... (so) for the first time, the California campaign will be in the vanguard of the presidential nomination process." ..... in March 2007, there were 4 million permanent absentee voters in California - nearly 60 percent of them women ..... "Hundreds of Californians have attended our 'Camp Obama' training sessions in Los Angeles and San Francisco," LaBolt said, adding that "more than 100,000 Californians have signed up to join our campaign," which has representatives in 40 of the state's 53 congressional districts.
Rove Keeps Up Heat On Clinton Guardian Unlimited ``She enters the general election campaign with the highest negatives of any candidate in the history of the Gallup poll,'' Rove said. ..... Asked whether he was attacking Clinton because the GOP feared Obama, Rove replied: ``I read that in the LA Times this morning. Those, those guys out in LA have got to get clued in. I mean, come on.'' ..... Rove said the GOP's chances in 2008 may be helped by the high negative ratings for Clinton and for the Democratic-led Congress. Congress' approval in an Associated Press-Ipsos poll this month stood at 25 percent, compared with 35 percent for Bush. ..... Rove said he talked to Novak about Plame, but said he did not confirm that she worked for the CIA - only that he, too, had heard that she did. .... ``Is the Republican Party a little bit behind the curve? You bet,'' he said.