Ethics

I think #7 is the most important

Ten New Year’s Resolutions for a Fiscally Responsible California

I’m a big believer in New Year’s resolutions. I have one list for home, one for work, and a separate list for my favorite hobby. In honor of the new decade, here’s another list: one aimed at setting the state on a fiscally responsible path for the year ahead.

There's a war going on - bet you didn't know it was here in the West. Watch this video

More info here

Wild Horses Shot To Death Near Calif.-Nev. Border

RENO, Nev. -- Investigators are looking into the suspected shooting deaths of a group of wild horses in Nevada and the possibility the case could be linked to heated debate over the future of mustangs in the West.

U.S. Bureau of Land Management spokesman John Dearing said Friday that five horses died of apparent gunshot wounds, while the cause of death of a sixth horse nearby was unknown.

The bodies were found Saturday on public land along the Nevada-California border in Washoe County, about 120 miles north of Reno. Authorities believe the animals had been dead for about two weeks.

[...]

Maybe that's a bit of a stretch and she would have gone after them anyway, but it seems awful coincidental when she was the only DA in the room for Ahnold's grandstanding of this issue last Summer.

I'll skip to the relevant section in this report

IHSS fraud in Sacramento County was highlighted in a critical grand jury report in May. Problems statewide led to legislation this year that requires background checks of providers and unannounced visits.

[...]

On to this report in the Bee from July

[...]

At a news conference Monday with district attorneys who support his IHSS changes, the governor repeated again that "some people say that there is 25 percent fraud. That would be over a billion dollars right there."

Who exactly are some people? We'll find out

[This is so wrong on so many levels. I have no idea how someone so smart could be so stupid; this is something Bush would do. Where's The Change ™? Click the pic to read a report on medical conditions from a few years ago]

Senators slam plan for wounded vets to use private insurance

By Adam Levine

CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance.



But the proposal would be "dead on arrival" if it's sent to Congress, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, said.

Murray used that blunt terminology when she told Shinseki that the idea would not be acceptable and would be rejected if formally proposed. Her remarks came during a hearing before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs about the 2010 budget.

No official proposal to create such a program has been announced publicly, but veterans groups wrote a pre-emptive letter last week to President Obama voicing their opposition to the idea after hearing the plan was under consideration.

The groups also cited an increase in "third-party collections" estimated in the 2010 budget proposal -- something they said could be achieved only if the Veterans Administration started billing for service-related injuries.

Asked about the proposal, Shinseki said it was under "consideration."

"A final decision hasn't been made yet," he said.

Currently, veterans' private insurance is charged only when they receive health care from the VA for medical issues that are not related to service injuries, like getting the flu.

Charging for service-related injuries would violate "a sacred trust," Veterans of Foreign Wars spokesman Joe Davis said. Davis said the move would risk private health care for veterans and their families by potentially maxing out benefits paying for costly war injury treatments.

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From October 2008, Rev. Billy visited Sacramento, CA.
The Church of Stop Shopping is an activist performance group based in New York City, led by Reverend Billy, the stage name of Bill Talen. Using the form of a revival meeting, on sidewalks and in chain stores, Reverend Billy and his gospel choir exhort consumers to abandon the products of large corporations and mass media; the group also preaches a broader message of economic justice, environmental protection, and anti-militarism, protesting sweatshops and the Iraq War. Though it continues its street theatre activities, the Church has also appeared on stage and has toured internationally.


Also an excerpt from Destined for Destiny, the unauthorized autobiography of George W. Bush, which is about 24 minutes. Later from Grateful Dead, a short excerpt from "US Blues".



Click here to download or listen to mp3 Total Duration 1:06:39.

If these allegations are true (I know, he's innocent until proven guilty, but come-on...), then I hope they throw the book at him. This is exactly the kind of thing that turns people off from politics. Maybe he'll be able to room with Jack Abramoff or some of these other guys.
--Bill

Governor Gone Wild: Blagojevich Busted
posted by John Nichols on 12/09/2008 @ 12:08pm

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, a scandal-plagued Democrat who among other things was preparing to appoint a senatorial successor to President-elect Barack Obama, was arrested Tuesday by FBI agents on what can only be described as breathtaking charges of corruption.

Needless to say, this is more than just another bust of another allegedly crooked governor of a state that has sent a good many of chief executives to prison -- including Blagojevich's predecessor, Republican George Ryan.

What are the ramifications?

First off, Obama is going to face questions about Blagojevich, a fellow Chicago pol with whom the president elect served in the Illinois statehouse during the period from 2003 to 2005 when Blagojevich was governor and Obama was a state senator. The president-elect is not saying much beyond a standard "it's a sad day for Illinois" lamentation.

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From UC TV, Harry Kreisler interviews Jane Mayer.


In her book, "The Dark Side", she explains how, under the direction of Vice President Cheney and his Assistant David Addington, the Bush administration, contrary to American history and tradition, implemented a policy of torture and rendition in violation of U.S. and international law. She also describes the resistance within the government and the military to these actions.



Jane Mayer is an American investigative journalist who has been a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine since 1995. In recent years, she has written extensive articles for that publication on Dick Cheney, the bin Laden family, and the US government's controversial policy of extraordinary rendition. About 56 min.



Click here to download or listen to mp3 Total Duration 1:46:39.

Soviet-style Purge in Final Days of Bush Administration: the Silent Coup d’etat

By David Swanson

Half the story has been told. On Tuesday the Washington Post* reported that Bush is creating civil service positions for loyal appointees, in order to make it hard for Obama to get rid of them.

* Just weeks before leaving office, the Interior Department's top lawyer has shifted half a dozen key deputies -- including two former political appointees who have been involved in controversial environmental decisions -- into senior civil service posts.

The transfer of political appointees into permanent federal positions, called "burrowing" by career officials, creates security for those employees, and at least initially will deprive the incoming Obama administration of the chance to install its preferred appointees in some key jobs.

Similar efforts are taking place at other agencies. Two political hires at the Labor Department have already secured career posts there, and one at the Department of Housing and Urban Development is trying to make the switch.

Bush has also, for some time now, been terminating large numbers of employees in the federal government, people known as whistleblowers, people suspected of disloyalty. Some of the higher profile cases are well known.

But there is more to the story.

Let's not forget our history...

Welcome, Karl Rove!
Bush’s brain brings unique legal ‘perspective’ to Sacramento
By R.V. Scheide - rvscheide@newsreview.com

On a bright, sparkling afternoon in 2003, a friend of mine was sitting in the Starbucks at 19th and J streets, gazing out the plate-glass window at passersby, when a large and imposing figure suddenly blotted out the sun. There was something oddly familiar about the bald, corpulent man, who resembled nothing more than that brain bug from Starship Troopers stuffed into a suit and tie. Then it dawned on my friend.

It was none other than infamous White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, the man universally known as Bush’s brain, the ruthless political operative despised by liberals everywhere, including my friend. The effort to recall Gov. Gray Davis was in full swing; Arnold Schwarzenegger was leading the pack, and my friend instantly—and as it turned out, correctly—surmised the situation: Rove was pulling Arnold’s strings.

Knowing how my friend felt about Rove, I asked him why he hadn’t strangled the bastard right there on the sidewalk, or sucked his brains out through a straw, or pounded his fat, amorphous head into a bloody puddle of mush and bone fragments. He answered that he’s thought about his failure to act often in the intervening years, it was the low point of his life, and if he was ever granted a second chance, he’d do things differently.

(Photo: Reuters)

House Panel Votes to Cite Rove for Contempt
Wednesday 30 July 2008 - by: Laurie Kellman, The Associated Press

Washington - A House panel Wednesday voted to cite former top White House aide Karl Rove for contempt of Congress as its Senate counterpart publicly pursued possible punishments for an array of alleged past and present Bush administration misdeeds.

Voting along party lines, the House Judiciary Committee said that Rove had broken the law by failing to appear at a July 10 hearing on allegations of White House influence over the Justice Department, including whether Rove encouraged prosecutions against Democrats.

The committee decision is only a recommendation, and it was unclear whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., would allow a final vote. Rove has denied any involvement with Justice decisions, and the White House has said Congress has no authority to compel testimony from current and former advisers.

The vote occurred as members of the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on allegations of administration wrongdoing ranging from discriminating against liberals at Justice to ignoring subpoenas and lying to Congress.

Say it isn't so...

Senator Stevens Indicted in Corruption Inquiry
Wednesday 30 July 2008 - by: David Stout and David M. Herszenhorn, The New York Times

Washington - Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, the longest-serving Republican senator in United States history and a figure of great influence in Washington as well as in his home state, has been indicted on federal corruption charges.

Mr. Stevens, 84, was indicted on seven counts of falsely reporting income. The charges are related to renovations on his home and to gifts he has received. They arise from an investigation that has been under way for more than a year, in connection with the senator's relationship with a businessman who oversaw the home-remodeling project.

The indictment will surely reverberate through the November elections. Mr. Stevens, who has been in the Senate for 40 years, is up for re-election this year. Mark Begich, a popular Democratic mayor of Anchorage, hopes to supplant him.