26 February 2008
News and Comment 02/26/08
Posted by Joy Bischoff under: What's News .
24 Comments so far...
Cameron Says:
26 February 2008 at 5:56 am.
Now we are supposed to think that McCain and Bush are alike. I just love these “stories” that appear as “news” and not the op-ed pieces that they are.
McCain’s Clashes With Bush Undercut by Shared Views on Issues
Edwin Chen Tue Feb 26, 12:06 AM ET
Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) — Senator John McCain’s battles with George W. Bush date back to the 2000 presidential campaign. That’s a political strength these days, says Republican strategist John Feehery. If Democrats are able to portray a McCain presidency as a third Bush term, it would be a “disaster,” Feehery said.
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One drawback for McCain: On three major issues — Iraq, the economy and health care — he has embraced Bush’s unpopular policies.
“Their positions are virtually indistinguishable,” said Thomas Mann, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington research group. “That makes him vulnerable to the charge that, `If you liked President George Bush, you will love President John McCain.”’
McCain’s ties to Bush’s policies may make it hard for the Arizona senator to attract independents in the general election, analysts say.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20080226/pl_bloomberg/a_hgrur82lu8
Cameron Says:
26 February 2008 at 8:25 am.
Wholesale prices jump in January
WASHINGTON - Inflation at the wholesale level soared in January, pushed higher by rising costs for food, energy and medicine.
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The Labor Department said Tuesday that wholesale prices rose 1 percent last month, more than double the 0.4 percent increase that economists had been expecting.
The January surge left wholesale prices rising by 7.5 percent over the past 12 months, the fastest pace in more than 26 years, since prices had risen at a 7.5 percent pace in the 12 months ending in October 1981.
Sharon Anderson Says:
26 February 2008 at 9:39 am.
Last Saturday I went to a dry pack cannery to can basic food storage items for my family. I had a price list from the last time I went (December 2007–less than three months ago). The things I purchased on Sat. cost me $45 more than they would have in Dec. Another way to look at this is that if I got those same things in Dec they would cost me $45 more now. This was an average 11+% increase on my particular items (some of which changed alot more than others). That reflects an increase in the COST of food not an increase in profits for the cannery. I guess storing some food is a wise thing to do. Where else can we get that kind of return on our investment?
Cavetrollhead Says:
26 February 2008 at 10:32 am.
Wow. That is a lot of inflation.
We need to drill in Anwar and scare Opec. We need to build Nuclear power plants. Inflation would reverse itself. We need an energy policy that is not set by the sierra club.
Do you think foreign countries are as careful with the environment as we are? NO!! When we prevent domestic production to “protect the environment” we drive those industries overseas where there are little environmental protections. It ends up hurting the environment more- just overseas. The best thing we can do for the environment is open up production here where we go to great lengths to protect nature. That will dry up production by the less scrupulous foreign gvts.
jobob911 Says:
26 February 2008 at 11:03 am.
Cave I agree with you. There are even a lot of oil reserves in Utah that can be used.
Cavetrollhead Says:
26 February 2008 at 11:32 am.
Yes, Jobob911. Are you from Utah?
There are lots of clean coal deposits and oil shale. Utah is very rich in fossil fuels. The problem is lifting restrictions and also changing attitudes about coal. Some types of coal are very clean burning. I know Senator Hatch has given lots of lip service to domestic (Utah) oil shale and clean coal, but I don’t know if he has moved anything forward. Now might be the time.
Cavetrollhead Says:
26 February 2008 at 11:33 am.
But the cleanest and safest (in most respects) fuel is Nuclear.
jobob911 Says:
26 February 2008 at 12:00 pm.
no i am not from Utah but I heard a guy on the radio talk about it. And I agree that we should build a nuclear power plant.
Matt Says:
26 February 2008 at 12:18 pm.
I don’t see our government doing what is necessary to address the problems. Mitt would have solved this. Handing a bunch of money back to people does nothing about long term turn around.
NEW YORK - No good news today on the economic front. Consumer confidence plunged, the wholesale inflation rate soared, the number of homes being foreclosed jumped, home prices fell sharply and a report predicts big increases in health care costs.
Consumer confidence weakened significantly as Americans worry about less-favorable business conditions and job prospects. The New York-based Conference Board says in a report released on Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index plunged in February to 75.0 from a revised 87.3 in January.
The reading — the lowest since the index registered 64.8 in February 2003 — is far below the 83.0 analysts expected.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080226/ap_on_bi_ge/economy_rdp_3
Jesse Says:
26 February 2008 at 12:50 pm.
I have been putting away some food like you Mormons do. I wish I had done more earlier before prices starting going up. I’m not going to put it off any longer because I think prices are going to continue to rise. Maybe nothing will happen right away that will make us need it but with higher prices it will only get harder to prepare. It may not be too long until I can’t scrap up enough to put anything away since it will take all I have just to keep up.
Matt Says:
26 February 2008 at 1:15 pm.
Greenspan has made a few comments in the past year to governments suggesting they drop the dollar because it would hurt their inflation. This time he told this to some Arab States. If oil isn’t backed by our dollar, we will take such a huge hit that I don’t even want to think about it. Here is a little of an article about it:
“In the short term free floating … will not fully dissipate inflationary pressure, although it would significantly do so,” added Greenspan, giving a green light for Gulf states to drop the dollar peg.
According to Economist editor Pam Woodall, Greenspan’s comments heralded the beginning of the end for the US dollar as the currency of choice for foreign exchange reserves.
“If Asian central banks hold today more than 80 per cent of the global foreign exchange reserves, which indicates the shift of the global economy domination towards Asia, it seems quite awkward that the UAE still maintains the peg of its currency to the US dollar,” she told Gulf News.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/february2008/022608_abandon_dollar.htm
Jan W. Says:
26 February 2008 at 2:31 pm.
Jesse,
I agree with you completely. I have had the strongest feeling lately that we need to get prepared. I don’t know exactly what that means but I have learned to trust my feelings through experience. I am going to do it right away.
Cameron Says:
26 February 2008 at 2:48 pm.
Newt Gingrich is on Hannity. He just said that McCain ran an honorable campaign and that he knows a lot more about this business than we thought he did. No Gingrich. His campaign was not ran honorably. The disgusting lies and innuendos and mailings and smirkings and push-polling were not honorable. This man is disgusting. He does not know more about about this business. That is not what brought him back. The media did. He couldn’t raise funds but he didn’t need any. A bunch of major newspapers all came out the same day and endorsed him. The Establishment knows how to manipulate people, McCain is an idiot.
E.E. Says:
26 February 2008 at 2:52 pm.
Yuck. Now Newt is saying McCain shouldn’t try to pander to the right. He said people think he is honest and he needs to stay true to himself. Newt has sold out.
I was thinking today that it is hard not to want to jump on board with a campaign. It is lonely to be left out like lots of you have been saying. I can see why people would and how the establishment counted on that. Then I heard things like this and there is no way I can support a man like McCain.
BTW, I saw at the bottom of the page under Recent Comments that Stumpy had commented and I had to search to find him under yesterdays news and comments. I love what he said. Very wise old coot.
Pickles Says:
26 February 2008 at 2:57 pm.
I think the power outage sounds nasty and kind of spooky. I wish we knew what caused it. I hope everybody is okay there.
Cameron Says:
26 February 2008 at 3:14 pm.
I’m going to puke. You should hear what McCain just said about Obama and Hillary and how he has philosophical differences but he respects them and will treat them with that respect. What a complete HYPOCRITE!!! Look how he treated Mitt. Argh!
Angela Rogin Says:
26 February 2008 at 4:14 pm.
Jan and Jesse, I have had the same feelings. I’m glad I’m not alone. Though to tell the truth I have some friends who have the same thoughts. I think something is coming we need to be ready for. We need to trust these feelings like you said. I was wondering what the moderators thought?
Cavetrollhead Says:
26 February 2008 at 4:34 pm.
E.E. are you talking about Stumpy swatting his ass?
E.E. Says:
26 February 2008 at 5:30 pm.
Yup, that’s what I was referring to. I thought it was a great way to show how we need to keep an eye on our government and not feel too bad when we have to say they have gotten out of line.
E.E. Says:
26 February 2008 at 5:31 pm.
I should have added that he also made the point that it doesn’t mean we don’t love our country and aren’t loyal to her. After all, the country is not our government, that is only supposed to be a representation of our feelings.
Ghost Says:
26 February 2008 at 7:16 pm.
I would also love to know what the mods thought about the need to get ready and the possibility of some serious stuff coming down the pike.
Joy Bischoff Says:
26 February 2008 at 7:22 pm.
Ghost and Angela, give me some time to decide whether or not to blog on this or just answer here and decide also just what I want to share. Touchy subject to be handled with care.
Hank Says:
26 February 2008 at 10:19 pm.
I add my vote. I would like to hear what you think because I have discovered you have insight to things and if you can see patterns like they say then you should give us a heads up.
Joy Bischoff Says:
26 February 2008 at 11:13 pm.
I’ve decided to blog on this. It will be up in the morning. Thanks for putting me on the spot guys 
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