Tuesday’s Mini-Report

April 1, 2008

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* More of this, please: “Lawmakers grilled executives from the world’s five largest publicly traded oil companies Tuesday, criticizing them for taking tax subsidies and not investing in renewable resources amid record prices for oil and gasoline. ‘Americans are hoping that the top executives from the five largest oil companies will tell us that these soaring gas prices are just part of some elaborate hoax,’ said Ed Markey, D-Mass, chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. ‘Unfortunately, it’s not a joke.'”

* I don’t imagine the White House will take the Speaker’s advice: “Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is calling on President Bush to consider boycotting the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Beijing. Pelosi does not favor boycotting the games themselves, but believes the possibility of boycotting the ceremonies is something that should remain an option, according to Drew Hammill, her press secretary. ‘She does not favor a boycott of the entire games,’ he said. ‘But she does believe boycotting the ceremonies should be left on the table.'”

* Froomkin: “President Bush is ratcheting up expectations for his European trip, aggressively calling for continued expansion of NATO into the former Soviet Union and saying he is hopeful that a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin on establishing a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe could be nailed down by Sunday. Does he know something we don’t? At least two NATO members appear to be opposed to Bush’s expansion plan. And since NATO operates by consensus, that would seem to indicate that Bush is headed for another international humiliation.” We can add it to the list.

* Progress on a bipartisan housing bill? “In a surprise announcement, Senate leaders Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Harry Reid (D-Nev.), cast aside the procedural politics and agreed to bring a foreclosure prevention bill to the Senate floor…. The breakthrough is extraordinary if only because the Senate has been so accustomed to gridlock on major issues like Iraq and foreign intelligence. But clearly, senators from both side of the aisle realized that legislating is better than political rhetoric as the housing market continues in a meltdown…. McConnell and Reid have agreed to allow a bipartisan bill, negotiated by Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and the panel’s top Republican, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama.”

* Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell badly misstated his recent negotiations with Senate Dems on FISA. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) is not amused.

* Everyone should be sure to check out the new-and-improved AirAmerica.com. This week, they have a special guest blogger providing content to the site’s blog — me.

* I guess it could have been worse; it could have been 100%: “Government auditors issued a scathing review yesterday of dozens of the Pentagon’s biggest weapons systems, saying ships, aircraft and satellites are billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule. The Government Accountability Office found that 95 major systems have exceeded their original budgets by a total of $295 billion, bringing their total cost to $1.6 trillion, and are delivered almost two years late on average.”

* Elizabeth Edwards 1, John McCain 0.

* Olbermann 1, Wal-Mart 0.

* Encouraging: “For most of the twentieth century, no single group represented a bigger obstacle to universal health care than organized medicine…. So given all of these changes, are physician attitudes about health care reform changing? Perhaps, if a new study from the Annals of Internal Medicine is correct.”

* High school students know when they’re being used as political props.

* Nice job, Madam Speaker: “Prior to the Easter recess, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was forced to intervene with Defense Secretary Robert Gates in order to get Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin’s domestic partner on a military flight for a congressional fact-finding trip to Europe.”

* Steve Doocy’s hackitude knows no bounds.

* Ralph Reed may be a disgrace, but that doesn’t preclude him from writing a political thriller.

* Speaking of Ralph Reed, Congress is still completing unfinished business from the Abramoff days.

* The media is still talking about Clinton tearing up in New Hampshire?

* And finally, if you haven’t seen Josh Marshall’s blooper reel, you’re missing out on a hilarious video.

Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.

‘Grats on the AA gig!

  • Let the oil companies keep their tax breaks, but make them foot the bill for all of our military outposts established to protect “their” oil. And start forcing them to internalize the costs that keep them so profitable.

    I’m shocked, shocked i tell you, that the Pentagon has cost overruns. They’re generally so efficient and frugal. I’ll bet none of those weapons systems are designed to counter an enemy that we might actually face either.

    What’s the deal with continued antagonizing of Russia? The Ukraine in NATO? Keep in mind the secondary reason for bringing in Eastern European countries: they have to completely re-fit their militaries to NATO standards. That means buying brand new everything, from small arms to fighter air craft. My guess is that if Bush manages to push it through, Russia will wait until December 08 and turn of the gas.

    Congrats on AirAmerica, i’ll be checking it out…

  • Olbermann 1, Wal-Mart 0.

    And let’s remember who sat there like a bump on a log in 1988 at the Wal-Mart stockholder’s meeting while an anti-union lawyer hired by the company to prevent unionization of the “associates” went on and on about unions being the spawn of Satan – good old board member and alleged Democrat Hillary Clinton! Go to YouTube and search “Hillary Clinton + Wal-Mart” – the video is shocking even to this confirmed Clinton enemy.

  • Not just guest blogger, but inaugural guest blogger. Couldn’t have made a better choice to set the standard. Congrats.

    “…that would seem to indicate that Bush is headed for another international humiliation.”

    Well, you did say he was going overseas. FWIW, I always thought “Annals” of Internal Medicine was a hoot!

  • McConnell and Reid have agreed to allow a bipartisan bill, negotiated by Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and the panel’s top Republican, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama.”

    This has me a little concerned. Dodd and Shelby are two of the villians most responsible for allowing the breakdown in the accounting rules and oversight that led to the collapse of Enron and the cheating by far more companies than have been reported. But we’ll see. Sometimes people learn from their mistakes.

  • * Olbermann 1, Wal-Mart 0.

    This story really, really makes me see red.

    From the Huffington Post:
    “Last Wednesday, Keith Olbermann introduced the story of Debbie Shank, a 52-year old former Wal-Mart employee and mother of a soldier killed in Iraq who suffered serious brain damage after getting hit by a truck and was subsequently sued by Wal-Mart to recover $470,000 in medical expenses (Shank had won a substantial settlement from the trucking company and, after legal fees, took home $417,000). Olbermann, in the clip seen below, declared Wal-Mart his “Worst Person in the World” and has subsequently named Wal-Mart to his “Worst Persons” list every night since.”

    Walmart’s reply:
    “This is a very sad case and we understand that people will naturally have an emotional and sympathetic reaction. While the Shank case involves a tragic situation, the reality is that the health plan is required to protect its assets so that it can pay the future claims of other associates and their family members. These plans are funded by associate premiums and company contributions. Any money recovered is returned to the health plan, not to the business. This is done out of fairness to everyone who contributes to and benefits from the plan. The Supreme Court recently declined to hear an appeal of the case, which concludes all litigation. While Wal-Mart’s benefit plan was entitled to more than the amount that remained in the Shank trust, the plan only recovered the funds remaining in that trust,” which according to reports amounted to about $277,000.

    My first reaction is to shout at my computer screen,
    “Lee Scott (the CEO of Walmart), you fucking asshole, why don’t you pry open your own fucking wallet and pay the fucking health plan yourself! You made 23 million fucking dollars last year, you waste of oxygen, and you can afford it out of petty fucking cash!”
    http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/wal-mart-ceo-pay-package-exceeds/story.aspx?guid=%7BB41975E2-1213-464D-8B91-573651547A1B%7D

    My second reaction is to hope that there is some justice in the universe and that Lee Scott ends up in Hell naked, cold and starving and spends eternity begging for help but being told by by each person who passes by, “Yours is a tragic situation, but I’m required to protect my assets.” Oh, and having his body covered with painful, festering sores would be nice too.

    My third reaction to hope that liberals pick up this story to throw back at those who declare that the ‘free market’ is the best way to give Americans ‘choice’ in their health coverage. What ‘choice’ does Ms. Shank have?!

    Thank you all for putting up with my rant. Have a nice evening everyone — except for you, Lee Scott, you soulless mass of pond scum contained within a sack of putrifying flesh.

  • Obviously, the Oval Office Orangutan isn’t going to do anything to upset his superiors in Beijing—so once again, it will be up to the American People to do what is right. We have the power to unilaterally boycott the Beijing Games on our own, by simply not turning on the television. If I do not watch the Games, then I do not see “the faux glory” that China is promoting. I do not see the artificial sheen that has been created by the Beijing government; a fraud of mass proportions built upon decrepit working conditions, semi-slavery, and dictatorial authoritarianism. They do not profit from me (as those who choose to do business with them likewise do not profit from me). I deny them “face” (a colloquialism then means, in essence, that I insult them).

  • Greg, I wouldn’t say that Pelosi reversed course… she merely said they have the right to vote their conscience. That doesn’t contradict her statement that if the will of the voters is overturned, there could be hell to pay.

  • SteveT…BRAVO!

    I wrote to Walmart today:

    I am officially a reformed Walmart shopper. As one who purchased everything from groceries to clothes to electronics from Walmart (to a tune of more than $2000 annually), I will never shop at Walmart again.

    One of the richest entities in the world and you treat an ex-employee like dirt by taking the only source of care for the remainder of her life.

    Shame on you. Sam Walton is spinning in his grave!

    You have forever lost my business and anyone else I can talk into joining me.

    You can write them, too.

    http://www.walmartstores.com/contactus/feedback.aspx

  • Tom – why do you hate women – shillary is ENTITLED to the WH, cuz, you know – she was married and slept with a president…

    America was founded as a autocracy – we are supposed to be ruled by BUSH-CLINTON-BUSH-CLINTON dynasties. Anyone that says otherwise is either un-american or sexist.

  • “‘that would seem to indicate that Bush is headed for another international humiliation.’ We can add it to the list.”

    Bummer for Bush that Europe is not Congress. Life’s a bitch outside of the bubble.

    Record oil profits while receiving enormous tax breaks, Wal-Mart screwing their employees, unfathomably bad Pentagon cost overruns … file that under nothing ever changes.

  • As much as I enjoy grilled oil executives (preferably with hush puppies and a nice side salad), it still annoys me that they will yet again go through the motions and then laugh all the way to the bank. Congress has no power to make them stop what they’re doing and can only try to embarass them with these hearing, which is about the same as throwing spit wads at a rhino.

    Next year I hope Congress will take up some legislation that puts some real teeth into their hides, otherwise they’ll just keep on soaking us for every penny they can get, just because they can.

    ‘Scuse me, I suddenly have an irresistable urge to grab a burger. Back later.

  • Grey (@7):

    On April 1st, 2008 at 6:55 pm, Greg said:

    Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.

    Obama went from a double digit lead to just 4 points
    Yes, it’s a good link to provide. I am particularly fond of the line

    Obama’s four-day run with a significant lead was the longest lead during this time span [i.e., since Super Tuesday]

    which I interpret to mean that, though there is noise, Obama’s doing better at moving toward a decisive lock…

  • AA; I haven’t been a huge fan, but I might take a second listen. For the past few years they’ve been utterly devoid of objectivity and humor.

  • You can write them, too. -MsJoanne

    I would, but I quit shopping at Walmart maybe five or six years ago. You’d be amazed how much less junk you buy once you don’t enter the confines of the evil empire.

  • Listen, I know people train long and hard for their chance at Olympic glory, but rather than the US boycotting the Olympics, I’m all in favor of we viewers AND the atheletes doing so. The NYT’s article today about how atheletes are afraid to lose endorsements, etc.was without many ‘heros’ who think that human rights of Tibetans, Darfurians, etc are more important than their games. There was one guy in the article who already has 10 medals and wants to go to his 4th Olympics — what for? How much of this guy’s life has he wasted in a pool.

    All the sanctimony about the sacredness of sport makes me sick.

  • I would, but I quit shopping at Walmart maybe five or six years ago.

    And I never have shopped there. It’s not like this story is our first, or even our hundredth, hint that WalMart is seriously bad news.

  • hurray to MsJoanne, doubtful and Maria, for no longer shopping at Wal Mart.

    I haven’t set a foot in any of their stores in over 10 years. I hope that many more people start voting with their feet and stop shopping at Wal Mart.

    It doesn’t matter that they reversed course on this case… The only reason is because it became a media ‘sensation’. They’ve done this to hundreds of their current and former employees.

  • I am new to the screw Walmart thing. I stopped shopping there a few months ago when I found out about their tax scheme which screwed NC and WI out of tens of millions of dollars. I have to so they should, too. How many local services couldn’t be done for those millions of missing funds. SCREW YOU WALMART!

    That did it for me and I feel so much better!

    I only wish I could say it had been sooner!

    And I would still write them whether you shop or not. Stop screwing with paying your fucking taxes! Try to take the multi millions you make every minute and chuck a few extra cents to your employees. Grow a conscience!

    And until they do…get as many people on the band wagon as possible.

  • Bruno said:
    hurray to MsJoanne, doubtful and Maria, for no longer shopping at Wal Mart.

    I haven’t set a foot in any of their stores in over 10 years. I hope that many more people start voting with their feet and stop shopping at Wal Mart.

    Unfortunately, too many people across the U.S. have to choose between shopping at Walmart or driving 50 miles to shop somewhere else. Some of this is because Walmart moved into areas and drove the locally-owned stores out of business. Some of it is because other national chains couldn’t figure out how to make a profit in sparsely populated rural areas.

    Now that Walmart has been shamed into doing… well, not the right thing, but at least not doing something unspeakably evil, I suppose I’ll have to revise my earlier post (#6).

    If there is justice in the universe, Walmart CEO Lee Scott will end up in Hell Purgatory naked, cold and starving and spend eternity a thousand years begging for help but being told by by each person who passes by, “Yours is a tragic situation, but I’m required to protect my assets.” Having his body covered with painful, festering sores would still be nice.

    And I hope Ms. Shank’s lawyer will get scrutiny from the state Bar Association. A settlement of $417,000 may seem like a lot, but in reality it’s only enough for a few years of he round-the-clock nursing care she will need for rest of her life.

  • SteveT, I assume that once she is destitute, she will qualify for Medicare and then Medicaid (assuming it’s still there).

    I also saw that Walmart Watch setup a fund for the Shanks. You can donate here:

    https://secure.walmartwatch.com/page/contribute/helptheshanks

    I think, due to the publicity and the generosity of many a good soul in this country, she will be ok. As ok as she possibly could be.

    Also from Walmart Watch:

    http://walmartwatch.com/pages/learn_more_about_the_shank_family

    And I wouldn’t put him into purgatory yet. It was all about loss of revenue and nothing about doing the right thing. That puts him back into the depths of hell category in my eyes.

  • Open thread… Can’t hurt:
    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?sid=ag9nXSjQZIlA&pid=20601070

    re: WalMart. Try living in an essentially rural and mostly poor district, and *then* see how far you’ll get on nothing but your principles. I don’t — much — shop for groceries there but, everything else? My nearest alternatives are at least 35 miles away (one way) and most are 50-65 miles (again, one way). I suppose *I* could afford the gas, and the time, and paying a bit extra for every item on top of that… but I’m among the privileged. And I *could* forget about how much I contribute to the pollution by taking such a trip a couple of times a month… but should I? And where many of our women and highschool kids would get their part–time jobs if WalMart went out of business is anyone’s guess.

    Sure, I fire off angry letters to them every once in a while, threatening to ditch them. But those letters as honest as Clinton’s/Obama’s supporters saying they won’t vote for the other come November. Those threats are as empty as a mother-hen’s ruffling up of neck feathers when defending the eggs she’s sitting on; the predator isn’t likely to take them seriously.

    When all is said and done, democracy won’t put a roof over your head and you can’t eat principles.

  • Libra, you are between a rock and a hard place. And you, along with many others in rural areas, have to live. No one would expect you to drive an hour away to do something you could do locally (or relatively locally). Gas alone would be crazy to do that. Jeez, Walmart or Exxon Mobil. 😀

    But that doesn’t mean you can’t voice your displeasure if they do something egregious (which this whole Shanks thing is). You always have your voice (and from what I read, a pretty damned good one, too).

  • And I hope Ms. Shank’s lawyer will get scrutiny from the state Bar Association. A settlement of $417,000 may seem like a lot, […] — SteveT, @23

    Her settlement had been a million; 417K — less than half — is what was left after the lawyerly-sharks had their bite at it. What WalMart wanted was actually *more* than she got — 470K; where she was supposed to get that that 53K from… Who cares? I suppose, to a CEO whose yearly income is in multi-millions, 53K is chump change.

    Oh, and thanks for pointing out — while I was hunt-and-pecking the same idea — that to some of us boycotting WalMart is not a realistic option.

  • This from a CNN article:

    Wal-Mart earned $100 billion in the final fiscal quarter end of 2007, meaning the company earned the disputed $470,000 in just 38 seconds.

    And I would like to know why the attorneys got such a big chunk, too. I thought 33% was the standard. Probably screwed the poor guy further because he couldn’t keep paying them.

  • MsJoanne, @26,

    In our area… of up and down and around the mountains, on a two-lane road with hardly a passsing spot — you get stuck behind a logging truck… or a tractor… or someone from the plains… all putting along at 15MPH (advised, though not compulsory) and admiring the scenery — 35 miles can take 70 minutes, easy. The town 65 miles away takes hardly more, because most of the trip is done on an Interstate. We really *are* between a rock and a hard place. WalMart is 5miles away from my door…

  • Libra, if I was you, I too, would be a loyal Walmart customer. There are things we sometimes have to hold our noses and deal with (like voting for Hils if that day comes. 😀 )

  • And I would like to know why the attorneys got such a big chunk, too. I thought 33% was the standard. — MsJoanne, @28

    33% is the standard mark-up/profit for a retailer; for lawyers, the only “standard” is “what the market will bear”.

    I know of one case (in Utah) where a woman — at the urging of the state attorney and using the services of a lawyer recommended by him — brought in a case for wrongful dismissal from her job. She won her case, got awarded some mind-boggling amount of money in reparations *and* punitive fees… And ended up, after 3 years of court hassle, still job-less and with little chance of getting another job anywhere in the state, with 1500 “profit” to show for it.

    Our court system isn’t set to get justice for the victims. It’s set to show off the adversarial skills of the duelling lawyers…

  • “Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell badly misstated his recent negotiations with Senate Dems on FISA. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) is not amused.”

    Please…can we STOP saying these people are “misstating” something. The word here is LIE.

  • They all lie. Olbermann is all over Mukasey for saying something about a call coming in from Afghanistan prior to 9/11 which they never acted upon because they couldn’t – except they could but didn’t.

    Olbermann has been on this for a couple nights now calling for him to say he lied or have Congress get him to put it on the record toot sweet.

    How can you tell a republican is lying? They are talking.

  • Thanks to Russ Feingold for not letting McConnell’s lies slide! I’m still shuddering from the video of Attorney General Mukasey’s getting all choked up as he makes up a new history of 9/11. Absolutely agree with impeachcheneythenbush (above). If it’s a misstatement, then correct it. AG Mukasey claims an unintercepted phone call caused 3,000 deaths, and we’re supposed to take his word for it. Why? McConnell’s stuff is even more obvious, and Feingold calls him on it.

  • I do understand the dilemma many rural people are in if they don’t want to shop at WalMart. I’m not at all unsympathetic to that. Just saying that for those of us who have choices…there’s a better way.

  • You’re right, Maria…and it’s important to remember that a lot of people in America no longer have a choice.

    I’m no Marxist, but the man was right on more than one count. America is now terribly vertically integrated. WalMart is a symptom, not the disease. The disease is most obvious in agriculture/food distribution. Many farmers don’t “own” anything except the land that they work. For example, Rose Acres Farms (a major, midwestern egg concern) doesn’t actually “own” many farms. They contract a farmer, who must pay the cost of building egg-laying facilities to Rose Acres specs. Rose Acres then supplies everything except the land, and buys the eggs on contract. (by everything i mean, the hens, the in vitro fertilization, the feed, the medicine…everything)

    This directly relates to WalMart, in that WalMart charges distributors for shelf-space. The only companies that can sell their products at WalMart are the ones who can afford that shelf space. It isn’t just the consumer who’s in a bind, the farmers and smaller manufacturers are bound too.

    At it’s most fundamental level, this is about controlling the means of production, distribution, and retail. At some point, the lowly consumer is left with zero choice. And that is the point.

  • I’m not defending WalMart in any way, but this is fairly standard. Basically you can’t be paid twice for an injury. I worked for a rehab place in Kansas and we had a patient (a lovely little old lady) who slipped on some ice outside a store. Medicare paid us for her treatment, and the store sent her a check to pay for the treatment. We told her not to spend it, but she didn’t listen and, of course, Medicare eventually came to her and wanted their money back.

  • “Government auditors issued a scathing review yesterday of dozens of the Pentagon’s biggest weapons systems, saying ships, aircraft and satellites are billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule.”

    Weapon systems designed for the Cold War. But hey, whatever pumps up Lockheed Martin and Northrop-Grumman’s stock.

    The people who suffer the most from these delays and cost overruns are the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who are supposed to get these Wunderwaffens, and are denied equipment that actually works because a huge chunk of the money in the DoD budget goes to these boondoggles.

    Wouldn’t it be great to have an administration that actually gave a flying fuck about America’s servicemembers?

  • Okay, for starters:

    If you guys weren’t so in love with Barack Obama, you might take your blinders off long enough to see that HE voted in favor of the oil-pork “Energy Bill” of 2005 that gave nearly $15 million in subsidies to these companies. Where the f*** have you been in calling out Obama for his bad votes?

    Second, Clinton supporters really don’t appreciate Randi Rhodes’ comments on Air America calling Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Clinton “whores”. Where the f*** are you on these kinds of sexist comments? NOWHERE TO BE FOUND.

    WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO START SPEAKING UP AND SPEAKING OUT ABOUT THE RAGING, RAMPANT SEXISM OF BARACK OBAMA, HIS SURROGATES, HIS FOLLOWERS?

    You aren’t going to get Clinton supporters on your side unless you take on sexism the same way you take on racism. Got it?

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