Comments on: I’M LIKE THIS WITH MY SENATOR, AMY KLOBUCHAR

By: Patricia

Patricia — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 23:41:37 +0000

I don't like all this messing around with our/my money...William Black did the Savings and Loan stuff. He just makes sense. Patricia´s last blog post..Opening Day

By: Betsy Wuebker

Betsy Wuebker — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 22:40:32 +0000

Hi Patricia – I just read the interview that William Black did with Bill Moyers; there is a lot of buzz about it. http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04032009/profile.html Particularly the part where Black said the law requires that you do a receivership, not nationalization. Geithner, having skated out of Wall Street with his own hide intact, now wants to be able to fire bankers (presumably not the ones whose hides he’s already saved) at will. This is all crazy! And there is so much happening simultaneously that a lot of it goes unnoticed. The citizens are definitely organizing – it is a groundswell. The mainstream media just isn’t picking it up. Perhaps this is one situation where bipartisanship will erupt at the citizen level. Thank you.

By: Patricia

Patricia — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 22:14:30 +0000

Good letter Betsy,
My Senators are hard at it too – I think two women are going to make a difference and they are calling for investigations and not more of the same people being forgiven and just redoing the same thing.
William Black (Kansas City fellow) was on Bill Moyer’s Journal this weekend and what he said really made sense.
I walked the lake with the Governor this weekend and she agreed with me “In terms of the economic crisis no mother would let her children get away with hurting other people so horrendously and that Congress must think we are all stupid?”
I still think the citizens are not organized enough and that the citizen voice is totally missing from this Democracy….
This is very upsetting stuff.

Patricia´s last blog post..Opening Day

By: Betsy Wuebker

Betsy Wuebker — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 22:32:10 +0000

Hi Dot – Yeah, I can’t get over the idea that someone should be specifically accountable in a representational position. It seems that these canned responses presume all of us outside the Beltway can be mollified by vague assurances. Despite some assertions to the contrary, I think the American people care very much about every last million dollars of their tax money, as well as their civil liberties and constitutional rights. Thanks.

By: Dot

Dot — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 22:23:03 +0000

Well, I'm glad I'm not the first to say it looks like a form response. Somebody said, "Send the economy email to this one." Your second email might get a real response, but you want to discuss things in detail and senators hate to get pinned down because it makes them look bad later when they trade those positions away. Dot´s last blog post..Silva CDs 7 and 8

By: Betsy Wuebker

Betsy Wuebker — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 11:55:28 +0000

Hi Jannie – The tea party movement is growing. Tax day, April 15th, is going to be a big day, but it won’t stop there, I’m sure. Remember, over the past eight years we’ve been told dissent is patriotic. Thanks.

Hi Rahul – Welcome to PassingThru! How much less expensive your solution would be! Or, conversely, what a load of cash every man, woman and child would have if the total distributed to the people was the same as the amounts gone down the bailout rabbit hole!

You’re right of course: the financial bailouts did nothing to loosen credit. Instead, consumer credit tightened and draconian policies – like universal default and arbitrary reduction of available credit – are in full swing. This is what’s strangling the economy, and ruining people who have operated by the book. People and businesses can’t spend. The sales tax deduction on a new car is a baby step in the right direction, but if I can’t get a loan, it doesn’t really help me, does it? Thanks, it’s nice to see you here from Triiibes.

By: Rahul Deodhar

Rahul Deodhar — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:10:42 +0000

Fantastic letter – and a template response. Keep asking them – though.

My greatest fear is that common people are being taken for a ride. First the financial institution took them for a ride and now politicians are doing the same. (Disclaimer – I am part of financial industry)

Personally, I think Us govt needs to spend despite increasing deficit. But it needs to spend to save common people and not a faulty system. For example, it needs to save the farmer and those who are hungry – but not the grain merchants. (imagining a very simplistic farm economy). Currently government is bailing out the merchants who are happily accumulating wealth – while hungry people are still hungry and farmers are still without seeds.

Rahul Deodhar´s last blog post..Auto Bankruptcy will worsen the slowdown

By: Jannie Funster

Jannie Funster — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 01:32:19 +0000

You write with such aplomb, Betsy! It'll be very interesting to see if you get a reply. Very interesting indeed! And what's that about sending teabags?? How am I missing this stuff? Oh right, -- I'm either blogging, playing guitar, eating muffins and / or doing the fandango in the soup aisle. I'll return for the next report. Jannie Funster´s last blog post..Happy Birthday, Me!

By: Betsy Wuebker

Betsy Wuebker — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 22:23:48 +0000

Hi Becky – Thanks – I’ll bask in your praise, as you’re someone whose writing I highly admire. None of this might matter indeed:
The Cybersecurity Act of 2009 (PDF) gives the president the ability to “declare a cybersecurity emergency” and shut down or limit Internet traffic in any “critical” information network “in the interest of national security.” The bill does not define a critical information network or a cybersecurity emergency. That definition would be left to the president.

The bill does not only add to the power of the president. It also grants the Secretary of Commerce “access to all relevant data concerning [critical] networks without regard to any provision of law, regulation, rule, or policy restricting such access.” This means he or she can monitor or access any data on private or public networks without regard to privacy laws. http://cdt.org/security/CYBERSEC4.pdf

Hi Mary – I wish I could say I didn’t believe that. And I agree – Amy’s letter was a whole lotta nothin’. But it sounded great. Hmmm. Sense a trend? Thanks.

By: Mary Hoffman

Mary Hoffman — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:03:16 +0000

Keep fighting, Betsy! EVERY DAY brings more news to be fearful of from this Congress and Administration. I agree with Becky that Amy’s letter seems to be the one sent to those complaining about our over-reaching government. Couldn’t she get someone to write something at least a bit believable? As far as you being worried about being harrassed by the press (or FBI?) for your comments, I heard a rumor that some people who sent teabags to their representatives might find themselves in just that predicament. Can you believe it?