by Bill Maher
Question: How come preventing chaos and civil war in Iraq was enough
to say, “Bush’s surge worked,” but averting a complete financial
meltdown and a second Great Depression isn’t enough to say, “Obama’s
stimulus worked”? No, we haven’t achieved full employment, but neither
was Iraq transformed to a model of peace and democracy. Have we been
conditioned to think of economic success only in terms of immediate
prosperity? Don’t you get any points for halting decline? Stopping a
free fall? Turning the tide?
Conservatives say “Obama’s policies have failed” but the fact is we
need a second stimulus, and Obama has served one up in the form of his
jobs bill, which is being cock-blocked in Congress by Republicans. It’s
as if the doctor has said to a dying patient, “You need two shots. The
first will arrest your illness and save your life and the second will
get you healthy and back on your feet.” And Republicans voted against
the first injection to stave off death and now they’re refusing the
second to stave off an Obama second term. Isn’t it clear Republicans are
purposely delaying recovery so they can blame Obama for keeping us
bedridden?
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21 comments:
I don't understand why more people
do not see this or care about these
exact things..All the dumb rednecks
in my area of the US believe that Obama is the worst thing to happen to us sense 9/11 and I just don't see how they can think that the Republican party as a whole is going to help the people who actually work in this country every day..People need to wake up before it's to late to change things or we will be the new communist run country!!!! Rick.G FL USA
At all. At All. AT ALL.
Follow the money. Its not the republicans or the democrats. Its an economic takeover.
You are right great big Bill, not all of Big O's policies have failed. Not all of the stimulus has been a failure either. I think he is a swell guy to boot.
But, as far as the stimulus remedy you mention, in the form of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program shot anyway, it almost killed many of the patients.
Its too bad the first shot of EUC08 was contaminated by the incompetent policy wonks at the Department of Labor Employment & Training Administration:
Mr. President there is a problem with the EUC08 program
As for shot number two, both sides of the administration are doing a good job of cock blocking whistle blower efforts to expose the errors that pointed out shot #1 was and still is highly infectious and life threatening to its intended patients.
The DOL screwed up the EUC08 implementation on one key point (see the link above or the technical details here):
An ARRA implementation Error exposed...
So before they even get to the second shot, if they have any patients left by then thanks to the damage that the first one caused for millions and to our economy, then they have to deal with this:
Welcome to our 21st Century Watergate
Irrefutable whistle blower evidence, based on a standing decision won 10/20/11 in the state of California, that the feds could not overturn later on 2/14/12 when they wanted to and failed, leads to their cover up being exposed.
Mr. Obama's name appears as the addressee in two key FOIA documents obtained by the whistle blower from 10/18 and 10/21/11. Those communications came from the DOL Employment & Training Administration, the ones who wrote and published the errors in the EUC08 guidelines. CUIAB Case A0-265448 prevailed on 10/20/11 by refuting a key section of those guidleines.
What are we going to do about this before the election?
http://www.cracked.com/article_19733_5-things-they-dont-want-you-to-know-about-olympics.html
Governor Brown (CA) is proposing pension reform believing that is what iscausing this economic catastrophe. Yet, he closes a blind eye to the
funding of several wars that are draining us dry as well as the bailout ofthe reckless, greedy banks.
Routinely, the banksters foreclose on a property within 6 months (not
giving the homeowner a refi), yet they already got paid through the bailout(gave themselves raises or whatever). When they foreclose, they get a second payout (double dipping) for the one property they're foreclosing upon. To make matters even more egregious is the banksters let the property taxes go into a delinquent state. This is allowed in all cities and counties that a property can be delinquent in property taxes for up to
5 years before the State takes the property and puts it up for auction.
So, the banks then avoid paying the delinquent taxes by passing this
obligation onto the buyer of the foreclosed property.
This delinquency is causing vital services to be cut in each city and county of our fair state.
So, our elected local and state officials should institute yet another cost saving/money generating law in that banks which foreclose on a home should be required to pay the property taxes from day 1. Surely, they can afford it and they owe it to
the taxpayers of each city and county since we bailed them out because they were "too big to fail" -- and they're failing us now yet again at every turn.
You've been conned, slave.
.http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/04/1127775/-Blame-Bush-At-Least-90-of-that-5-Trillion-Increase-in-National-Debt
Sooo....apparently the CBO is so good they can predict the numbers for a president who has not been elected yet??? Ehhhhh...try again!
Please show a comparison of the crowds of the two conventions on your show. One is a depiction of America and the other is old white people and a few tokens.
"The best way to destroy capitalism is to debauch the currency. By a continuing and ongoing process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly, and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of it's citizens. there is no subtler or surer way of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all of the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner that which not one man in a million years is capable of diagnosing" - President Lenin
There are countless examples of flawed policy initiatives on both sides of the political isle.
There are countless examples of the influence of Big Money Lobbies gaining more advantages for the Industries they represent.
Big Tobacco, Big Oil,Insurance, Pharmaceutical, National Defense, the NRA & the Law Enforcement (particularly the Drug war) are all extremely powerful.
I am happy that more people have access to health care, but the costs are out of control. What is needed is a single payer system that involves a hybrid of the Amercan & Canadian systems.
I believe Taiwan has the most effiecient system maybe we can learn from them?
Defence Spending is outrageous. And there are so few checks and balances in place to audit how this money is being spent. People are so concearned with appearing soft on Terrorism that they are allowing it to handcuff our ability prioritize our spending.
Bill you have made some great points in how Religion has caused so many conflicts... However I disagree that we would be better off with out Religion or faith of any kind. Religion and faith should be intensely personal... people should be able to pray or do whatever they do together if they want. What I can't stand is this I am right and everyone else is evil propaganda campaign that is forced upon congregations of all religions by their respective administrations. I have to say kudos for leaving "God" out of their platform as the premis of having the entire nation united under the Christian god is exclusionary.I only wish they would own it rather then say it was an oversight.
I could literally go on forever, but I will leave it with this. Sir Ken Robinson (of Ted fame) has correctly identified several major issues with our Education system that he characterizes as Assembly line Education(or something like that).
We are systematically numbing peoples capacity for creativity through this approach. The Bubble exists because people are taught not to question. They are taught to do what they are told and this is what is killing us.
We are in the information age people... why is it that mostof us still live in the Information bubble?
Keysian economic theory worked in the 20th century when you could literally isolate individual economies. Today it is not as simple. Not unless you have coordinated fiscal policy through out trade zones.
anyhow that is enough for now
"Don’t you get any points for halting decline?"
Sure you do. That is valid, but you sure don't get any points for trying to cover up a historic implementation problem with a key Recovery Act program either...
You like "arithmetic" right?
First (A), consider the "proof" that $97,433,246,688 spent in the last four years + 29,748,954 claims + 663,688,610 weeks of benefits paid = The Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program (EUC08). That is the 73-99 weeks of Tier I-IV that comes after people exhaust their state's regular unemployment insurance compensation.
Second (B), the EUC08 program is a vital part of the American Re-investment and Recovery Act of 2009(Division B Title II section 2001).
Third (C), if solving the problems with the Economy, The Stimulus, and the Unemployment Rate are directly related to (B) and could result in "winning the election" (D), how do you solve the following problem?
(A)+(B)+(C)=(D) only if problems with (C) don't get all your points taken away.(C) can be negative or positive...in a big way.
Here's the problem with (C):
(X) Look up the Department of Labor Operating and Implementing Instructions for EUC08:
EUC08 Program pre-errors definition of an "exhaustee"
(Y) Then look up what the DOL issued just a month later and pay attention to Section D. Monetary Eligibility, Q&A (7) "Multiple EUC Claims":
EUC08 Program errors begin with this Q&A
(Z) Then compare that to the DOL's own regulations for Federal State Extended Benefits at 20 CFR 615.5(2), and the definition of an "exhasutee" found here at (Z) is the same as (X):
(Z)20 CFR 615.5(2) + (X) Refutes what (Y) says
(X) and (Y) and (Z) are not equal. (X) and (Z) comply with laws and regulations. (Y) does not. (Y) is just an error that someone at the DOL Employment & Training Administration made in August of 2008. A multi billion dollar one...
This serious implementation error problem will have a great affect on (C) from above (having a good record on the recovery efforts so far). (C) has become a very large and negative number. It negates (A) + (B) together...
In fact they might just lose all their points, and (D) as well(the election), if The White House, Mr. Obama, the Department of Labor and the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board don't come clean about the implementation errors that have been exposed in the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program by CUIAB Case A0-265448.
They have yet to answer Recovery Fraud Complaint RATB-2011-DOL-9DF2506-0. This ask them directly: "Why are you ignoring such a historic implementation error right before the general election".
This just does not add up Big Bill, does it?
ps.
You gave them a million bucks right? A million dollar helping hand to get their "ride" together. This will help take them all the way to the end right?
But, you wouldn't even kick the tires or take it for a test spin first? That is some serious "faith" put on four years of a fairly closed book.
I advise that you look under the hood next time before you write that check:
The Obama Administration is trying to hide the billion $+ error that has been exposed in the EUC08 program before the election. They don't want you to look at the engine, you won't like what you find there.
Along with the implementation blunder in the EUC08 program, they have been exposed making threats in order to try to cover up this mistake:
The Employment & Training Administration threatened the state of California on 2/7/12 with the end of the "EUC08 Agreement" if CUIAB Case No. A0-265448 was made a "precedent" and applied for all claimants in California (victims of the "Multiple EUC Claim ERROR". (Todd Yamamoto of the DOL ETA)
This is your home state Bill. Are you going to let them get away with that and take your money at the same time?
They already have robbed our economy, and the unemployed struggling workers & families who needed this ARRA emergency aid. And now everyone in California loses this emergency aid if the case that exposes the feds implementation error is applied as it should be?
I know you are much smarter than that...you really should look into these problems. Its own your own Blogga under your own name. Response?
Btw...did you happen to post date that check? I hope so...
Please pay attention to some more "arithmetic" and this "proof" for my earlier equations...
Nothing explains it better than the words of our own "leaders". The topic is the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board case NO. A0-265448, that prevailed on 10/21/11. This appeal challenged the Department of Labors mistake in the EUC08 program implementation ("Multiple EUC Claims" Q&A from UIPL 23-08 change 1+). The appeal victory had those determinations based on this error reversed. This supports the federal regulations at 20 CFR 615.5(2), but also exposes the fact that the DOL made a historic blunder in their implementation of Recovery Act funds (ARRA).
Here are some gems from Todd Yamamoto, DOL ETA Region 6, from his 2/7/12 letter to California's Labor & Workforce Agency's Marty Morgenstern (obtained via the Freedom of Information Act July 2012):
"If there is no reversal of this decision, then the EDD is not to use the CUIAB's decision as precedent in making future determinations of the eligibility for EUC08. Using this decision as a precedent will result in the termination of the Agreement with the Secretary of Labor which will require the end of the EUC08 program in California. In addition, any EUC08 benefits incorrectly paid as the result of no reversal will result in disallowed costs under any audit"
(20 CFR 615 is NEVER mentioned in the letter...the only "law" brought up: the errors I had reversed by Case A0-265448)
Here is the cowardly reply by Pam Harris of California EDD, and Robert Dresser, the chair of the CUIAB (and one of two judges who awarded CUIAB Case A0-265448 victory on 10/20/11 based on 20 CFR 615.5(2) no less). This is from their joint 2/14/12 response to the DOL ETA's Todd Yamamoto (and his THREATS).
1. They agree to not make CUIAB Case A0265448 a precedent nor ever use it for any other claimant.
2. They also agree to pay California state funds to cover the EUC08 payments for the CUIAB Case A0-265448 decision (which gets to stand btw).
Here is how these two cowards, after caving into lies and threats based on mistakes they never discuss in these two letters, nor 20 CFR 615, end the letter:
"We appreciate Jamie (Bachinski) speaking with us last week to provide clarification on DOL's expectations for resolving this matter. It is our understanding that with these assurances, it will not be necessary to pursue further action in court to seek the overturn of Case No. A0-265448. Thank you for helping us achieve a satisfactory resolution to this matter."
I have full copies of both of the letter for any doubters. Case A0-265448 still stands, even after my FOIA discoveries this summer. WTF is up with that?
I am the ONLY claimant that has been paid EUC08 in accordance with the Department of Labor's own federal regulations found at Title 20 Chapter V Part 615. Millions of other claimants for the past four years have been robbed of this same right (and have been harmed by the "Multiple EUC Claim" ERROR...our economy suffers for this to).
So much for the "right to petition the government to redress grievances". What rights will the Obama Administration steal away next?
What the great Chris Hedges says about things like this is are all too true:
Empire of Illusion
With Bill Moyer talking about "sacrifice zones"
The Department of Labor Employment & Training Administration published an error in their EUC08 guidelines Q&As that they issued to all state agencies starting in August of 2008. The Q&A about "Multiple EUC Claims" does not comply with 20 CFR 615.5(2) the "definition of an exhaustee".
What this does is force claimants for EUC08 to "finish off" any remaining balance leftover from any older benefit years EUC08 claim first, before being allowed to start receiving payment for EUC08 based on the most recent benefit year.
Example:
1. A Teacher becomes unemployed in 2008.
2. She qualifies for and runs through a 26 week state regular compensation unemployment claim for $81/week based on a part time temp job.
3. She then becomes an "exhaustee" and qualifies for EUC08 at the same $81/week in late 2008 (99 weeks total available on this claim back then).
4. This claimant only uses up 5 weeks at $81/week but she has a 95 week still available when she returns to a much higher paying job again.
5. The EUC08 claim stops payment and ends (according to 20 CFR 615.5(2)).
20 CFR 615.5(2)
6. When she loses her job again in 2009, and she goes back onto a new state regular unemployment insurance claim for 26 weeks. This time she qualifies for $450/week. This claim is available for 52 weeks. In her case she started in August of 2009 and the state claim ends in August of 2010.
7. When she runs out of this 26 weeks of state aid for the second time now in early 2010, she becomes an "exhautee" again for federal EUC08, and the "Multiple EUC Claims" error START (see link for (B) below).
8. Instead of paying her a new 99 week EUC08 claim, based on the 2009-2010 $450 week state claim she just finished, the "Multiple EUC Claim ERROR", incorrectly instructs the states to put her back on the old EUC08 claim from 2008-2009 claim at $81/week for the remaining 95 weeks.
9. This means that when the new benefit year she just entered that paid her $450/week ends in 52 weeks, she will still be stuck on the older $81/week EUC08 claim. She then loses eligibility to the $450/week claim (August 2010).
10. Also when she crosses the last state unemployment claims 52 week benefit year end in August of 2010, she WILL FAIL the Public Law 111-205/HR4213 eligibility test because she is being paid EUC08 from the old 2009 claim and not the 2010 one that would make her eligible for this important law as well. This law requires that the claim she has ENDS after July 22,2010. The old 2009 one does not, but the 2010 one she should have been paid on does (if 20 CFR 615.5(2) had been followed and "Multiple EUC Claims" had been ignored). So she may be forced off the $81/week federal EUC08 and be forced on to a new even lesser state claim for another 26 weeks. On and on...
It is just complicated enough that the feds think we are too dumb to figure this out. That almost worked too. Much less federal aid has been paid out for far shorter time periods due to these errors.
That teacher is just one example. In her case she would be owed the difference between the $450/week EUC08 she should have been paid, and the $81/week she was paid by mistake due to the "Multiple EUC Claim" ERROR.
If she was denied these emergency designated funds for just 26 weeks (the other half of a state benefit year), then she is owed $450-$81 = $369 x 26 weeks of denial = $9594.00 (my appeal paid me back $2786 dollars from a lesser denial over the same time period).
The feds and state wanted to overturn my case but have not been able to since last October 2011. They are ignoring these problems that may have affected many of these claims over the past four years:
Since 2008 there have been 29,748,954 EUC08 Claims (for all tiers) that have paid a combined 663,688,610 weeks of benefits. The amount spent so far = $97,433,246,688 for EUC08 benefits to present day.
How much money do you think has been wasted if just 1% of those claims have similar problems?
1% of 29,748,954 claims = 297489.54 claims. If just 297,489 claims were affects by the "Multiple EUC Claims ERROR", by denial similar to my appeal case (A0-265448):
$2786 over 26 weeks denied x 297489 claims affected by the "Multiple EUC Claim ERROR" = $828,804,354 !
This is just a low estimate...its much worse than that...in the billions easy...just plug in the $9594 that the teacher was owed in the example above, and it jumps to $2,854,109,466! Now factor in 4+ years of this on all those claims...
If more than 1% have been denied or overpaid...that number is too big and too scary to think about. Maybe that's why the Obama Administration has been trying to subvert my efforts and wants to dodge this hard question before the election? If I were wrong, then why can't the feds refute my appeal victory after almost one year?
Recovery Fraud Complaint RATB-2011-DOL-9DF2506-0 is based on that appeal victory (CUIAB Case No A0-265448), and the errors in implementation by the Department of Labor that it has exposed.
I filed that Recovery Fraud complaint in March/April of 2011 and it remains unanswered and unchallenged. Just like my appeal case that this is based upon.
Petitioning The President of the United States:
(A) The Department of Labor published an implementation error in the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program (EUC08).
(B) This error was published by the Employment & Training Administration in August of 2008, in UIPL 23-08 Change 1, in the Q&A section about "Multiple EUC Claims".
(C) "Multiple EUC Claims" does not comply with 20 CFR 615.5(2). What they advise all states to do violates regulations and laws.
The Obama Administration is Robbing the Unemployed out of ARRA Funds
Department of Labor Errors are Robbing the Unemployed out of Recovery Aid
The White House was notified, by Dale Zielger of the Unemployment Insurance Division, of the Department of Labor's Employment & Training Authority on 10/18 and 10/21 about the CUIAB Case appeal victory on 10/20/2011 that refuted their faulty federal implementation of this multi billion dollar recovery act program (EUC08)
Scans of White House Memorandums obtained via FOIA
This incriminating letter, sent on 2/7/12, from Todd Yamamoto, to the California Labor and Workforce Agency head, Marty Morgenstern, that was directed at the California Employment Development Department (EDD) and Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board (CUIAB), makes threats over the State Appeal Victory in CUIAB Case A0-265448 and demands they try to appeal this decision in Superior Court (or Federal Court). He tells them NOT to make the case a "precedent" for any other victims of this same implementation error WHETHER THEY CAN OVERTURN THE CASE IN COURT OR NOT. He also informs them that the DOL REFUSES to pay Federal Funds in support of the appeal victory. They say the "decision violates federal law" but they choose not to take my case to court. They are just trying to ENFORCE the MISTAKE in this letter upon millions of other claimants.
Scans of incriminating letter from the Department of Labor on 2/7/12
This incriminating letter, sent on 2/14/2012, by the California Labor and Workforce Agency, EDD's Pam Harris and the CUIAB's Robert Dresser, shows them caving in to the empty threats by the Department of Labor ETA, based on the SAME ERRORS that CUIAB Case A0-265448 had refuted on 10/20/2011 no less! They also agree to pay State Funds to cover the EUC08 funds awarded back to me in CUIAB Case A0-265448. They agree to make no precedent that would help other unemployed claimants who were victims like I was, and tell the Department of Labor it won't even be necessary to take the case to court...as long as they keep this quiet and I don't find any of this out...which I did thanks to the Freedom of Information Act this summer and caught them at this Abuse of Authority and Recovery Act Fraud (ARRA). The 2/7/12 letter said the "decision violated federal law" so why won't it be necessary to take this case to court then? Don't want a real judge to see the evidence of the government mistake maybe?
Scans of incriminating letter from EDD and the CUIAB on 2/14/12
More evidence scanned here for the doubters
The unemployed thank you for burying your partisan heads in the sand throughout the election. This could have easily been verified and looked into, but was instead treated by ALL sides as "anti-their-view" so here we are before the election allowing a historic cover up to happen.
Good work Bill.
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