More so than FISA it's these issues that worry me...

[vaberella]

Democrats: Makers knew Katrina trailers tainted
WASHINGTON - Manufacturers knew there were high levels of formaldehyde in the trailers provided to Hurricane Katrina victims, but sold them to the government anyway, according to a congressional report released Wednesday.

The report by Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is at odds with an analysis done by Republican staffers on the same committee. The Republican report found that trailer manufacturers should not be held accountable for the high levels of formaldehyde — a preservative commonly used in building materials — in trailers that the Federal Emergency Management Agency set up to house people displaced by Katrina in 2005. Republicans say it is the government's fault for not having standards for safe levels of formaldehyde in trailers.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080709/ap_on_go_co/toxic_trailers_6



Polls show high interest in poverty issue
Americans want the news media to focus more on poverty during the current presidential campaign, according to a new poll commissioned by Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, an initiative that raises awareness about economic distress in America.

The survey, conducted by McLaughlin and Associates, asked voters whether they believed the media had devoted “an adequate amount of time during the presidential campaign covering the issue of how to fight poverty in the U.S.” Fifty-six percent of respondents disagreed with that statement.

“We’d noticed that poverty has been more discussed in this presidential campaign than we’d expected, or seen in the recent past,” said Tom Freedman, a former senior White House aide who edits the commentary section of Spotlight on Poverty’s website. “The poll tends to show that the political conventional wisdom that voters don’t care about this issue is wrong.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080709/pl_politico/11637


Iraq insists on withdrawal timetable for US troops
BAGHDAD - Iraq's national security adviser said Tuesday his country will not accept any security deal with the United States unless it contains specific dates for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.

The comments by Mouwaffak al-Rubaie were the strongest yet by an Iraqi official about the deal now under negotiation with U.S. officials. They came a day after Iraq's prime minister first said publicly that he expects the pending troop deal with the United States to have some type of timetable for withdrawal.

President Bush has said he opposes a timetable. The White House said Monday it did not believe Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was proposing a rigid timeline for U.S. troop withdrawals.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080708/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=AsUr94IPun7.wKRFSbd5ZZcDW7oF


Fed to curb shady home-lending practices
WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve will issue new rules next week aimed at protecting future homebuyers from dubious lending practices, its most sweeping response to a housing crisis that has propelled foreclosures to record highs.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke of the much-awaited rules in a broader speech Tuesday about the challenges confronting policymakers in trying to stabilize a shaky U.S. financial system. To that end, Bernanke said the Fed may give squeezed Wall Street firms more time to tap the central bank's emergency loan program.

To prevent a repeat of the current mortgage mess, Bernanke said the Fed will adopt rules cracking down on a range of shady lending practices that have burned many of the nation's riskiest "subprime" borrowers — those with spotty credit or low incomes — who were hardest hit by the housing and credit debacles.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080708/ap_on_go_ot/fed_credit_crisis;_ylt=ApOQvpvfgLVrEnBFqLewApQDW7oF


---Thanks for letting me know of the misspelling. My fault.

[Tunkamerica]

1. FISA? or FEMA?

[vaberella]

4. That in and of itself is a GREAT question... (it was a typo---FISA)

Right now there's this focus on FISA which Obama even said he would deal with first when he gets into presidency. While we have failing infrastructure, we have high poverty and unemployment rates, we have high food prices, we have high fuel prices. This is a nightmare.

FISA is an undeniable issue, but the Patriot Act I and II was problematic enough in causing us heartburn, these other issues are putting us in the grave, FISA is like high blood pressure but not death.

[midnight]

2. I know this sounds real generous, but with every thing our

brothers and sisters from NOLA have been through we ought to give them zero percent interest loans for several years until they get back on their feet. Put these people to work.

[Bluerthanblue]

3. these are the issues that will take lives-

that ARE taking lives.

Add to this McCain's desire for war with Iran- his wanting to muck with Social Security, and cut 'entitlement' programs while promising to increase tax cuts for the rich and richer- and let those who are already struggling suffer.

The times ahead are going to be really challenging, we won't survive another bush 4yrs.- We, meaning our nation, and the world as we know it.

peace~

[mrreowwr_kittty]

5. Me too! For fuck's sake, your grocery store knows more about you than the US Gov't ever will

Credit card companies track your every purchase and security cameras record your every move, already. Your employer can demand a urine sample from you and can fire you because you smoke.

Liberals are wringing their hands over wiretapping while children go hungry, millions of Americans have no health care, and people are living in tents in Los Angeles, because they could no longer afford their mortgages. I agree that giving telecoms immunity is a gross miscarriage of the Constitution, but letting people STARVE and DIE is an abrogation of the principle of providing for the General Welfare. Letting people LIVE IN TENTS, in the wealthiest country in the world, is an ABOMINATION. Having homeless people, again, in the wealthiest country in the world, is an affront to the principles this nation was founded upon.

[vaberella]

6. God we're wasting so much energy when there are live issues plaguing us.

[Tunkamerica]

7. I get it

but couldn't this be the cover that "ominous forces" are looking for? Who cares about constitutionally guaranteed rights when so much other bad shit is going on? Could this be the trade-off we're making?

[vaberella]

8. Actually I thought it was pretty apparent.

You ignore the fact that our rights were taken away when the Patriot Act I & II/Protect America Act's made it to the floor and were passed. These acts blatantly infringed on our rights. They didnt' remove them as the drama queens on this board claimed, but they did infringe on them as given. All this hoopla about our constitutional rights for this paticular Act is pure fluff and nonsense. It actually reinstates many rights the PAA took away.

Those issues aren't at trade-off. What we're seeing is that things are in dire straits within this nation. We are not forcing our government to take responsibility for their actions in regards to things that directly and physically affect the citizenry. I won't deny that these Acts are problems, however we can take them to court for any wrongs against the Constitution--"Hello, Supreme Court". However, when it comes to infrastructure collapse killing millions, people don't always blame the government. Or there are shouts for government reparations and that's washed over with a silly excuse.

The gas prices are directly due to the war and have been on the rise even before Bush became president even if people choose to ignore that. Since war was going on during Clinton's presidency. We're just paying the price when the spending and cost of the war ate up our social reform programs and aided in minimizing the fuel burden. Now however, it's kicking our ass.

We're moving to a food crisis because this is related to the fuel issue. This is not a damn trade-off the trade off was made without our consent almost 8 years ago. People seem to be putting so much emphasis and wasting so much damn energy on a bill that does nothing in the face of so many other bills that were passed.

The American people as a general group don't give a rats ass about FISA, don't know what it is, never heard of it, and don't care. Yet, all of us here are harping on it. Not to mention so many of the loud mouths on this board didn't even read the bill. One person just gave me links without using direct language from the bill to support arguments he read about the bill (because none of those articles gave the language which pertains---so us normal people can support them if we read it) that says to me we have a indignent idiots.

I have heard Obama speak on this issue and he was extremely clear and forthright as to voting "yes", voting for the retroactive immunity to be "struck", to "filabuster" and when he becomes president he'll make the change and offer alternatives to the bill as well as keep us up to date on what's going on. So far Obama has not let us down in any of the regard and even at great risk to himself he informed the base. Further more, this reassured me more that when in the White House he'll come through and if he waffles on it---then we ream him and force the issue.

No matter what the issue was going to be passed, that's inevitable. However the things that happened here were not inevitable. They didn't have to happen but we're living in a shady world and the corporate world is kicking the ass of the citizenry and we're not even paying attention or fighting back as this sight clearly shows.