Citibank

I love this image. This graph depicts the price for a share of Citibank stock between 1988 and 2010. When Bill Clinton took office in January 1993, Citibank stock traded for about $4.10 per share. The lie of Clinton/Bush free market neoliberalism is that the stock market will go up forever, and the economy will grow forever. So long as the politicians remove regulations & taxes, the market will be a wealth-creating machine. On paper, Citibank's profits were big, but the profits themselves were a lie. In reality, the bank was making all its money selling worthless mortgages. Sure, in the short term, the price peaked at $53 in 2007. But in the long run, it's only worth about $4 per share.
-Andy K.

Obama making Bush's extreme policies "new normal"

ACLU 18-Month Review of Obama's civil liberties and national security record:

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Obama and tortured evidence

Candidate Obama claimed to be opposed to the use of statements from detainees obtained through the use of torture. There's no way around it, President Obama's approach has sadly been a continuation of the Bush years.


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quote of the day

"The notion that when we are fighting two wars, we're not supposed to consider raising taxes on [the wealthiest 1 percent] is one sign of a country that's no longer serious. Why do so few military hawks acknowledge that if they lack the gumption to ask taxpayers to finance the projection of American military power, we won't be able to project it in the long run?"

- E.J. Dionne on the unsustainable Empire

and now for the Obama quote

18 days before the BP Gulf of Mexico oil rig disaster, Obama seemed to be reading from a Big Oil talking points memo.

President Obama on April 2, 2010: "I don’t agree with the notion that we shouldn’t do anything. It turns out, by the way, that oil rigs today generally don’t cause spills. They are technologically very advanced. Even during Katrina, the spills didn’t come from the oil rigs, they came from the refineries onshore."

Sarah Palin quote of the day

"After inheriting a good pro-development GOP plan that opened up both coasts for drilling, the Obama administration halted development ... and now we're gonna study, more study of the South Atlantic and parts of the Gulf of Mexico ... my goodness, folks, these areas have been studied to death ... I have seen so many, many studies! I say, let's send the White House this message: that, you know, we can save taxpayer time, save money and announce: there is oil and gas down there, and we can produce it safely and responsibly! We don't need more studies, we need more action! Because energy produced in America is security for America, and it is jobs for American workers, jobs that can't be outsourced. Let's drill baby, drill, not stall, baby, stall!"

-Sarah Palin on March 31, 2010. (Three weeks before the BP oil spill.)

Obama and BP oil

Oil giant BP has given more than $3.5 million to federal candidates over the past 20 years, with the largest chunk of their money going to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.


Congress' Top Recipients of BP Oil Money:

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) $77,051
Rep. Don Young (R-AK) $73,000
Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) $41,400
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) $44,899
Sen. Mary Landreiu (D-LA) $28,000


In 2000, BP gave 39 percent more to Republican candidates, but by 2008, Democrats had nearly pulled even with Republicans in BP donations.