Obama is fighting for our future

Barack Obama proves once again his dedication to this country and global responsibility. His stand on reducing greenhouse gasses is clear. It's really great to see a politician that is so charismatic. Obama is clear, direct and to the point. I am hoping he wins. Go Obama!






Obama offers plan to cut gas emissions 4/20/2007, 11:26 a.m. EDT
By PHILIP ELLIOTT
The Associated Press

DURHAM, N.H. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Friday issued a call to save future generations from global catastrophe as he offered an energy proposal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

"We've been talking about climate change in Washington for years and energy independence and efficiency for years," Obama said. "But no matter how many scientists testified about greenhouse gases, no matter how much evidence that they're threatening our coasts and endangering our weather patterns, nothing happened with global warming until now."

The Illinois senator stood in front of University of New Hampshire campus buses that run on biofuels.

Obama says the fuel used to power automobiles should contain less of the carbon that contributes to global warming — enough to make the same impact as taking 32 million cars off the road.

"I believe we still have a chance to pass on a planet to our children that is cleaner and safer and more prosperous than we found it," Obama said. "This is our generation's moment to save future generations from global catastrophe."

Obama's approach echoes California's. The state's Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, issued an executive order this year requiring all fuels sold in the state to contain less carbon. The goal is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from passenger vehicles 10 percent by 2020.

The Obama campaign said its effort would take that plan nationally. Specifically, Obama wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions from cars by 5 percent in 2015 and 10 percent in 2020.

"It will take a grass-roots effort to make America greener and end the tyranny of oil," Obama said two days before Earth Day.

Obama's plan counts on new limits to stimulate increased production of renewable biofuels, such as corn and cellulosic ethanol, which naturally have lower emissions. The plan would create incentives for increased research, investment in cleaner fuels and flexible-fuel vehicles that can run on ethanol.

The campaign says a national fuel standard would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 200 million tons in 2020, compared with 2007 levels — the equivalent of taking about 32 million cars off the road in 2020. The campaign also estimates the annual consumption of gasoline derived from foreign oil imports would drop by about 30 billion gallons in 2020.

Obama also has proposed a bill in the Senate that would raise fuel efficiency standards. If that were enacted and combined with his carbon program, it would cut about 583 million tons of greenhouse gases in 2020, the equivalent of taking about 96 million cars off the road.

Vonnegut

Thanks Kurt for all of your works. We will miss you!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut

Kurt's take on Global Warming:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lp_daXRkOH0

Here is one of his more prolific speeches:


I Love You, Madame Librarian

by Kurt Vonnegut / In These Times August 11th, 2004 10:31 am

I, like probably most of you, have seen Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. Its title is a parody of the title of Ray Bradbury’s great science fiction novel, Fahrenheit 451. This temperature 451° Fahrenheit, is the combustion point, incidentally, of paper, of which books are composed. The hero of Bradbury’s novel is a municipal worker whose job is burning books.
And on the subject of burning books: I want to congratulate librarians, not famous for their physical strength or their powerful political connections or their great wealth, who, all over this country, have staunchly resisted anti-democratic bullies who have tried to remove certain books from their shelves, and have refused to reveal to thought police the names of persons who have checked out those titles.
So the America I loved still exists, if not in the White House or the Supreme Court or the Senate or the House of Representatives or the media. The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries.
And still on the subject of books: Our daily sources of news, papers and TV, are now so craven, so unvigilant on behalf of the American people, so uninformative, that only in books can we find out what is really going on. I will cite an example: House of Bush, House of Saud by Craig Unger, published near the start of this humiliating, shameful blood-soaked year.
In case you haven’t noticed, and as a result of a shamelessly rigged election in Florida, in which thousands of African Americans were arbitrarily disenfranchised, we now present ourselves to the rest of the world as proud, grinning, jut-jawed, pitiless war lovers, with appallingly powerful weaponry and unopposed.
In case you haven’t noticed, we are now almost as feared and hated all over the world as the Nazis were.
With good reason.
In case you haven’t noticed, our unelected leaders have dehumanized millions and millions of human beings simply because of their religion and race. We wound and kill ’em and torture ’em and imprison ’em all we want.
Piece of cake.
In case you haven’t noticed, we also dehumanize our own soldiers, not because of their religion or race, but because of their low social class.
Send ’em anywhere. Make ’em do anything.
Piece of cake.
The O’Reilly Factor.
So I am a man without a country, except for the librarians and the Chicago-based magazine you are reading, In These Times.
Before we attacked Iraq, the majestic New York Times guaranteed that there were weapons of mass destruction there.
Albert Einstein and Mark Twain gave up on the human race at the end of their lives, even though Twain hadn’t even seen World War I. War is now a form of TV entertainment. And what made WWI so particularly entertaining were two American inventions, barbed wire and the machine gun. Shrapnel was invented by an Englishman of the same name. Don’t you wish you could have something named after you?
Like my distinct betters Einstein and Twain, I now am tempted to give up on people too. And, as some of you may know, this is not the first time I have surrendered to a pitiless war machine.
My last words? “Life is no way to treat an animal, not even a mouse.”
Napalm came from Harvard. Veritas!
Our president is a Christian? So was Adolf Hitler.
What can be said to our young people, now that psychopathic personalities, which is to say persons without consciences, without a sense of pity or shame, have taken all the money in the treasuries of our government and corporations and made it all their own?

Update- The Move On Virtual town meeting was a success

If you missed it you can watch footage or read transcripts from the links below. Read on:

Last night's Virtual Town Hall on Iraq was really exciting. Seven Democratic candidates for president spoke directly to tens of thousands of progressives from coast to coast. Listening to the candidates compete for who has the best plan to bring our troops home—well, it's a big change from 2004. The visions they laid out could hardly be more different from our current administration's approach.

Now it's time for the final step: we all vote on which candidate is best able to lead the country out of the war in Iraq. We need to show that progressives will reward candidates who stand strong on Iraq.

And if you couldn't make it to a party, you're in luck! We captured it all on tape and in print. So, read or listen to the candidates' words first, and then cast your vote. If you're ready to vote now, click here:

http://pol.moveon.org/townhall/iraq/support.html?id=10184-1411303-L34xC1&t=6

It's not too late to join in the Town Hall and vote! Just click here to listen to highlights and read transcripts:

http://pol.moveon.org/townhall/iraq/report_back.html?id=10184-1411303-L34xC1&t=7

Last night was a great example of grassroots democracy. The candidates answered (and occasionally ducked) questions submitted and chosen by real people—not beltway pundits. Afterward, we had great conversations about how we can use the primary process to end the war and build progressive power. It was a reminder of how different politics can feel when driven by citizens—not by money, consultants, or party power brokers.

Our partners at Air America Radio will be rebroadcasting the show over the next few days, so check your local listings, and tell you friends to listen.¹

You can help make this experiment in people-powered politics a success by voting right now for the candidate you think can lead us out of Iraq (voting closes tonight at midnight PST). And once you vote, you'll have the chance to support your candidate by contributing to their campaign and joining their e-mail list.

Check out our highlights page:

http://pol.moveon.org/townhall/iraq/report_back.html?id=10184-1411303-L34xC1&t=8

Then be sure and vote at:

http://pol.moveon.org/townhall/iraq/support.html?id=10184-1411303-L34xC1&t=9

One important thing to note: Winning this vote isn't an official MoveOn endorsement. Before we all make any endorsements together, we need to keep pressing the candidates on Iraq—and on other issues. Watch your email for info on two more Virtual Town Halls to come this spring and summer—one on health care, and one on global warming.

Events like tonight are only possible because of you. Thanks for all you do.

–Adam, Ilyse, Justin, Mari and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Wednesday, April 11th, 2007

1. Click here to check Air America local listings: http://www.airamerica.com/stations

Move on virtual town meeting!

This is an incredible opportunity!
attend a local house party and experience the virtual town hall with others by going here:

Tuesday, April 10th at 4:15pm Pacific Standard Time


http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/index.html?action_id=80&id=10158-1411303-OdLPrl&t=3


Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, and Joe Biden will answer questions from MoveOn.org's 3.2 million members.

In memory of Bob Clark

"Christmas Story", "Porky's","Black Christmas"

We will miss you Bob.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Clark

Support the Democrats!

Here is Harry Reid's response to The president's comments earlier today. I think it is critically important to hear both sides of the story, so in case you missed it:

REID: AMERICA CANNOT AFFORD BUSH STRATEGY ANY LONGER
Washington, DC—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, released the following statement today after comments made by President Bush at the White House:
The President today asked the American people to trust him as he continues to follow the same failed strategy that has drawn our troops further into an intractable civil war. The President's policies have failed and his escalation endangers our troops and hurts our national security. Neither our troops nor the American people can afford this strategy any longer.
Democrats will send President Bush a bill that gives our troops the resources they need and a strategy in Iraq worthy of their sacrifices. If the President vetoes this bill he will have delayed funding for troops and kept in place his strategy for failure.
EMANUEL STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT’S “FAIRY TALES AND ROSE-COLORED GLASSES” PLAN FOR IRAQ
Washington, D.C. – House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel issued the following statement after President Bush’s press conference today:
“President Bush asserted again in the Rose Garden this morning that we're making progress in Iraq, and Senator McCain insists that Iraqi neighborhoods are safer. Meanwhile, the death toll for US troops continues to mount and the Iraqi government is failing to meet the President's own benchmarks for progress.
“We can't continue to pursue an Iraq policy based on fairy tales and rose-colored glasses. A majority of both the House and Senate have voted to change it. The President should join us.”
Hoyer Statement onthe President’s Remarks
“The President Is Delaying Funding for Our Troops By Ignoring the Will of the American People and Refusing to Compromise”
WASHINGTON, DC – House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement this morning in response to comments by President Bush regarding funding for American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan:
“By ignoring the will of the American people and refusing to sit down and work with Congress to change direction in Iraq, the President in fact is engaging in unnecessary political theater and delaying funding for our troops in harm’s way.
“It is increasingly clear that, when it comes to the war in Iraq, President Bush is out of touch with the views of the American people, who are demanding a charge in direction and a policy that is designed to succeed.
“After the deaths of more than 3,200 brave American soldiers and the expenditure of more than $400 billion, the President continues to insist that we pursue a failing stay-the-course strategy – even as the Defense Department describes the situation on the ground in Iraq as ‘civil war.’
“Given the Administration’s record of failure in Iraq, Democrats in Congress refuse to simply rubber-stamp the President’s latest funding request. Thus, for the first time in four years, we demand that the Iraqi government be held accountable and meet the benchmarks for progress that the President himself articulated in January, and we support a responsible redeployment that is supported by nearly 70 percent of Americans and endorsed by the bipartisan, independent Iraq Study Group.
“Let’s be clear: Democrats are not attempting to micro-manage this war. We are attempting to change a policy that is failing and chart a new direction in Iraq.
“Finally, for the President to claim that Democrats are somehow responsible for the readiness issues faced by our armed forces is patently absurd. In fact, top military officials – including General Peter Schoomaker – have issued strong warning about the effects of this war on America’s overall military readiness and our ability to respond to emerging strategic threats.”
###
Kerry Responds to Bush Press Conference
WASHINGTON D.C. –Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) offered the following statement today, following President George Bush’s press conference.
“The President’s promise of a veto rings as tragically hollow as his pledge of ‘mission accomplished,’” said Kerry. “Congress must enforce a one year deadline for redeploying most U.S. troops from Iraq. President Bush stubbornly refuses to change the disastrous policy in Iraq, so this Congress has no choice but to force a change in course. No more open ended commitment, no more leaving American troops in the middle of an Iraqi civil war. The American mission in Iraq will be to train Iraqis and chase Al Qaeda, not do for Iraqis what they must do for themselves. Unlike this administration, when it comes to standing by our troops, we mean business.
“An administration that misled America into war is once again trying to mislead when it comes to supporting our troops. If the President uses his veto, he is the one denying funding for our troops. Our brave American troops deserve nothing less than a policy that is equal to their sacrifice. Congress has done its job, now the Administration needs to do its job and force Iraqi politicians to do their job. Get the funds to our troops, and get Iraqis to achieve the political compromise this misguided escalation was supposed to make possible.
“The President says he sent more troops into Baghdad to give the Iraqi government ‘breathing space,’ to find a political solution to the civil war. But where is the progress in meeting key political benchmarks – and where is the accountability for squabbling Iraqi politicians? American soldiers should not die while the Iraqis refuse to compromise.”
Chicago, IL-Today, Barack Obama made the following statement in response to President Bush's remarks during his press conference on Iraq.
"The American people and their Congress have said repeatedly that they will no longer accept a war without end in Iraq. If the President chooses to ignore the people's will and play politics with the funding for our troops, Democrats and Republicans will continue to ratchet up the pressure on this Administration to change course in Iraq and bring this war to a responsible end, and I will continue to fight for my plan that would begin a phased withdrawal from Iraq with the goal of bringing all combat troops home by March 31st, 2008."