A Bad Winter For America's Poorest Citizens
More great news for the poor this winter.
The New York Times reports today that the New York Housing Authority will be receiving 50 million dollars less than what it needs to provide low-income housing assistance for the year.
The budget gap, part of a nationwide squeeze by the Bush administration in spending on housing programs, could mean that the authority would have to reduce the number of planned vouchers by more than 6,000 this year from the city's current 118,000. Agency officials have said they hope to avoid evicting any tenants, but will most likely cut back on new tenants and will not be able to replace those who leave.
"The burden this reality places on the city's public housing authority will be far-reaching and test our ability to assist families who need affordable housing and rely on Section 8 assistance," said Tino Hernandez, the housing authority's chairman. "The reality is our options are very limited, given the magnitude of the federal government's funding reduction."
But, at the same time, the article notes that HUD, which serves people with more income than those served by the NYCHA, has received an increase in funds.
The city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development reported that the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development had agreed to increase its financing for rent vouchers by $27 million. The department generally provides Section 8 vouchers to residents with higher incomes than the tenants of the Housing Authority, who are among the city's poorest residents.
Taken together, the various city agencies issue about 118,000 Section 8 vouchers at a cost of about $1 billion. The net loss to the city, given the increase and the shortfall, will be about $23 million.
I'm always amazed that anybody can afford to live in New York with the cost of housing and food, let alone those tens-, if not hundreds-, of-thousands of people who are at or under the poverty line.
Joining In Opposition To Gonzales
Today Kos has called on all bloggers to sign on and oppose the nomination of Alberto Gonzales for the post of Attorney General. I am writing this to add my voice to the opposition- No to Gonzales for Attorney General!
As the post notes:
Unprecedented times call for unprecedented actions. In this case, we, the undersigned bloggers, have decided to speak as one and collectively author a document of opposition. We oppose the nomination of Alberto Gonzales to the position of Attorney General of the United States, and we urge every United States Senator to vote against him.
As the prime legal architect for the policy of torture adopted by the Bush Administration, Gonzales's advice led directly to the abandonment of longstanding federal laws, the Geneva Conventions, and the United States Constitution itself. Our country, in following Gonzales's legal opinions, has forsaken its commitment to human rights and the rule of law and shamed itself before the world with our conduct at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. The United States, a nation founded on respect for law and human rights, should not have as its Attorney General the architect of the law's undoing.
If you are as appalled as I am at the nomination of such an amoral man to the chief law enforcement officer of this great nation, and you write a blog, then please join with us in opposition.
Dollar Dump: Central Banks Shun US Assets
A recomended blog on Daily Kos yesterday points to an extremely worrying trend, ie thedumping of US assets by foreign central banks
As the post notes:
The Financial Times this morning arrived with the headline
US assets shunned by central bankers. The article reports on a survey of 65 central bankers controlling $1,700 billion in assets which reveals that they now deem the Eurozone as attractive for investment as the United States. A huge change in attitudes has occured in the global financial system, and no amount of US sabre rattling will restore US dominance.
This is the news many of us have dreaded since the dollar accelerated its decline in October 2004. [Ealier Dollar Dump diaries here and here.] As central banks and other significant investors in global asset markets shift away from US assets, severe implications for the US will become reality:
- difficulty for Bush in financing his ballooning deficit,
- a possible collapse in the traded value of the dollar,
- higher dollar interest rates in order to attract international lenders,
- compromising of the dollar's reserve currency status, and
- slower growth in the US economy given that most consumers, corporations and governments in the United States are dependent on debt financing.
This is espescially worrying when you consider that Asian Central Banks alone hold
2,300 Billion Dollars in their reserves.
Does it strike anyone else as a bad idea to put the fate of our economy into the hands of foreign banks and governments (including some that are surely competitors if not adversaries, i.e. China)?
As the
Financial Times notes:
The fate of the dollar rests in the hands of a handful of central bankers in Asia. We have known this for some time. Since the foreign private sector shows insufficient appetite for US assets, the US relies on central bank purchases to fund its current account deficit and the acquisition of foreign assets by US residents. By absorbing the excess supply of dollars these central banks stop their own currencies appreciating against it. This Faustian bargain underpins today's currency prices and trade patterns and sustains global imbalances. Any suggestion that foreign central banks may be losing their hunger for dollars is highly significant.
But, on the bright side (if there can really be a bright side to this) this may provide progressives with an avenue of attack on the president and the Rethugs. The next time that Democrats are accused of wanting to put our foreign policy in the hands of the French or U.N. why not ask why the president is handing over the keys to this economy to a Communist nation? Unlike the claim about Dems, this one is has truth on its side.
Anti-Labor, Pro-liberal
Chris, of MyDD, had a great "rant" yesterday asking if it was possible to be MyDD Anti-Labor and Pro-liberal. It's funny to me that I didn't even notice the dearth of debate in these leftwing blogs around the topic of labor organizing and rights, and it's very refreshing to get the topic out into the open, where hopefully we can finally purge ourselves of the free-market idiots, I mean ideolouges...
He also brought the conversation over to Daily Kos, where he showed that none of the top rated blogs over the past sixth months (out of thousands of posts) had anything to do with labor.
Man, the upper class sure has succeeded in keeping us from thinking about this issue, which I think explains a big portion of the Dems inability to make inroads in the South...
No room for progressives on cable news inauguration coverage
Media Matters for America inventoried guests on the cable news networks during the inaugaration and found, surpirse-surprise, that there was "No room for progressives."
Media Matters for America inventoried all guests who appeared on FOX News, CNN, and MSNBC during the channels' January 20 inauguration coverage. Between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Republican and conservative guests and commentators outnumbered Democrats and progressives 19 to 7 on FOX, 10 to 1 on CNN (not including a Republican-skewed panel featuring Ohio voters), and 13 to 2 on MSNBC. Moreover, the rare Democrat or progressive guest usually appeared opposite conservatives, whereas most Republican and conservative guests and commentators appeared solo or alongside fellow conservatives.
This type of conservative slant is precisely why we need to renew the "Fairness Doctrine" (thanks to
Chris Bowers at MyDD for hyping this), which basically calls for equal air time on the news for candidates during an election.
As
Chris notes:
Next week, as I wrote about last Friday, Representative Louise Slaughter will introduce a bill to Congress to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine. The Fairness Doctrine is an extremely popular idea, but when Democrats tried to pass the legislation in 1993, conservatives were able to defeat it. They did so through the traditional conservative means: they lied.
This is extremely important. The right has a virtual monopoly over cable news and it is absolutely vital that our candidates be given the oppurtunity to present the progressive side and framing of issues.
You can help support Rep. Slaughter's efforts by signing this petition to
RENEW THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE.
Here's what the petition says:
For many years, television and radio stations were required to give equal time to opposing sides of public or political issues to ensure the American public heard all sides of a debate. It was a requirement made by the Federal Communications Commission that came to be known as The Fairness Doctrine.
In 1986, a federal court ruled that the Fairness Doctrine did not have the force of law and could be overturned without congressional approval. Congress passed a bill to make the doctrine law but the bill was vetoed by President Reagan in 1987 and the Fairness Doctrine was abolished.
Since then, the country has experienced a proliferation of highly partisan news outlets that disseminate unbalanced news coverage. Democracy is built on the idea that the views, beliefs, and values of an informed citizenry provide the best basis for political decision-making.
And American listeners and viewers agree. A recent poll of likely voters shows overwhelming support across the political and demographic spectrum for restoring rules requiring fairness and balance on the public airwaves.
Please join us in signing
the following petition calling for the reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine.
FCC Chairman Michael Powell Stepping Down-
Yahoo! News - FCC Chairman Michael Powell Stepping Down
Normally I'd think that this was good news, but I'd be willing to bet a large sum of money and/or alchohol that the his replacement is even worse, at least I suspect he'll be a lot friendlier with the fundies.
My FCC Complaint
Today I received a letter from the blowhards at the Aemrican Family Association asking that I help them file a complaint with the FCC over a CBS show in which a bunch of kids have sex (oh, the horror! It was so hot and heavy that I almost forgot about all of the real suffering in the world).
Anyway- here's the letter that I sent:
Dear FCC and Commissioners,
As a member of American Family Association, I am disappointed to learn that you recently cut a deal with CBS/Viacom and allowed them to only show a teen orgy scene once. Why only once? Can't we have orgy scenese more often? God loves hot, barely legal, girl on girl action, so why should the American People be denied it. Do you want to deny the American people God's love?
As a taxpayer, I hope you will take consumer complaints more seriously. Making deals with broadcasters of indecent programs, without ensuring that there is adequate nudity (espescially of breasts) in the program, undermines the public trust and results in more abuse by networks like CBS/Viacom.
Here's my formal complaint:
NETWORK: CBS-TV
PROGRAM TITLE: Without a Trace
BROADCAST DATES: December 31, 2004
BROADCAST TIMES: 9:00 PM Central & Mountain Time
---Begin Broadcast Content---
The scene includes 20-30 teenagers in an afternoon party at one of their homes.
In one scenario, a girl sits astride a boy as they simulate sexual intercourse (yes, that's right, they only simulate! Is this really supposed to stimulate?). The girl wears only a bra and panties, and another girl fondles both her and the boy. They don't even start munching each others carpets, is CBS trying to give me blue balls!
In still another corner, kids drink and smoke as they watch their half-naked friends engage in various sexual acts, and yet we, the viewing public, are not permitted to watch. A moving mound of bare arms and legs indicates a group of teens having sex, but I can't masturbate looking arms and legs, I need skin. Everywhere one looks, kids are in various stages of undress, engaged in sexual contact, and I wasn't even invited.
In another room, a girl in bra and panties lies on the floor while one boy pours booze down her throat, one boy kisses and fondles her chest and a third rubs her thigh. A circle of their friends watching the action surrounds the quartet. But we don't get a money shot, isn't that a crime? It should be!
---End Broadcast Content---
Please keep me informed of the progress of your investigation of this complaint. A copy of this program is provided to you by the American Family Association.
Signed,
Christian Blowhard
I really hope that they get the message, I was up for four hours on a Viagra and this kind of lame stuff just isn't going to cut it.
Impromptu Happy Hour in Philly?
This plea for drinking partners was just posted on MyDD:
I need large amounts of alcohol. Well, there is a need, and there is a want. I need drinks because of all this Bush news today.
First, the need. I mean, I think it is time for God to end his little experiment of seeing if one person so dumb and feeble could really destroy the world in 8 mortal years. Only alcohol can numb the pain that is George W. Bush. And there is the want. The Philadelphia Eagles will be dispatching with the lowly Minnesota Vikings and the scumbag Randy Moss this Sunday, and I must celebrate.
So if any MyDDians wish to join me in Philly, post a comment
I'm not in town, but I assume that some of you might be down for some drinks...
"I'm not anti-semetic, I just hate Jews"
Here's a wonderful(ly frighening) piece at Vox Popoli (via Pandagon), innocently titled, and this isn't a joke, The Merits of Anti-Semetism.
It ends with this very thoughtful statement:
I'd never understood how the medieval kings found it so easy to get the common people to hate the Jews in their midst. But if those medieval Jewish leaders were anything like the idiots running the ADL, the ACLU and the Council of Jews, one can see where the idea of persecuting them would have held some appeal.
And the comments ahev this statement, which could never be taken as anti-semetic:
I'm not anti-Jew in any sense. I've just learned to loathe their political leadership and marvel at their self-destructive tendencies.
Ah yes, the good ol' self loathing Jew. I guess old hatreds really do die hard...
