Many observers expect U.S. Rep. Anh Joseph Cao to last just one term in office. Right now some people are seeking to shorten even that.
A group of Louisiana’s ministers, unhappy with Cao’s votes against the stimulus package, have filed 
papers to seek the freshman Congressman’s recall – report the Times-Picayune here and New Orleans radio WRNO 99.5FM here.
Which, to the Bolsavik, seems a little silly because Cao’s votes were in line with hundreds of his Republican colleagues. On the February 13 vote “on agreeing to” the conference report (i.e. the vote to actually pass the final version of the stimulus package), Cao voted against it — but so do 175 other Republicans and 7 Democrats.
Earlier, on January 28, he had voted against the House version, together with 176 other Republicans and 11 Democrats.
No matter how you feel about an issue, it’s hard to say something is a recallable offense if hundreds of members of Congress (so they’re almost all Republicans – they’re still people) go along with it.
But then again we’re in a democracy and people are free to feel whatever is an offense worthy of recall and then go for it.
Except when the law doesn’t provide for a recall. And that seems to be the case here.
Louisiana law apparently does provide for an election to recall a Congressman, but the office of a Congressman is determined by the U.S. Constitution, and at least one lower court (in Michigan) has held that the state cannot usurp federal law and recall an elected Congressman.
Anyway we may never get there. The recall forces have to gather 101,000 signatures in 180 days, and it’s not sure if they can do it.
Well, Cao could have voted for it just like Some Dem voted against it.
I know that he will be just one term US congressman b/c the heavily Dem district he represents.
At least he is the first VietAm US congressman. Maybe he should move to Little Saigon, CA and run for US congressman there!
Chicago Tea Party : revolution against government’s bailout
The nation’s outrage over the never ending Bush-Obama Bailout Parade is heating up fast. This week alone we’ve seen grassroots rallies in Seattle, Denver, Mesa, and Kansas. CNBC editor Rick Santelli set off a virtual firestorm when his passionate critique of President Barack Obama’s mortgage bailout plan inspired traders on the floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange to stop their pre-trading preparations to voice their support.
The video of Santelli’s call for a “Chicago Tea Party” to protest the government’s constant intervention in the free market has spread like wildfire across all media outlets.
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/02/rick-santelli-chicago-tea-party-in-july.html
According to some individuals in this forum, those ministers will be call filthy communists . . . .
The dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, who asked that we be judged by the content of our character, not the color of our skin, is easier for a white majority than a non-white minority.
Lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, and rose to prominence from obscurity because he uses his freezer exclusively for food, Joseph Cao may yet prove himself worthy.
There is a new anger sweeping America. Most Americans suddenly realize the American dream might be just a dream. The “Me” becomes “Poor me” mentality and the culture of entitlement cause voters to think of their government as Aladdin’s genie of the lamp, capable of granting any absurd wish, taking them on a magic carpet ride through the sky of wonders, or else, the anger can be cleansing, can be a force for change.
It might be said that, at least the Democrats are not shy to admit they are wasting your money, whereas the Republicans pretend they are saving it. Face it, politics is really about stupid compromises. It is a party treason to break ranks, but it is exactly the distinction between being great and being a hack, and current economic situation in American life where breaking ranks would be political brave and classy, the right thing to do for voters.
Electile dysfunction OR loyal to a Fault ???
The Strength of the Dollar :
Why the value of the dollar keep moving up against the Euro and the Yen ?
1. Financial-system meltdown may be fully exposed in the US, while in Europe the worst may be yet to come.
2. The economic recession in the Eurozone currently is as bad, or even worse, than the US. A severe recession is spreading in many parts of emerging Europe_ Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Belarus, and Ukraine.
3. The European Central Bank is so passive and slow in terms of monetary response.
4. Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, and Japan are burdened with huge amounts of debt and deficits. Any fiscal stimulus program could only minimal and nominal.
5. China is the ONLY creditor in the world. its’ Yuan is begged to the Dollar.
Layoffs in Hi-tech 2009.
Company Date How many
Micron Technology 02/23/2009 2,000
Google 02/12/2009 140
Pioneer 02/12/2009 10,000
Nokia 02/11/2009 500-700
Forrester 02/09/2009 50
Panasonic 02/04/2009 15,000
Electronic Arts 02/03/2009 1,100
NEC 01/30/2009 20,000
Novell 01/30/2009 100
Teradyne 01/30/2009 532
Citrix Systems 01/30/2009 490
STMicroelectronics01/28/2009 4,500
AOL 01/28/2009 700
SAP 01/28/2009 3,000
News Corp. 01/26/2009 100
Texas Instruments01/26/2009 12%
Sprint Nextel 01/26/2009 8,000
Philips 01/26/2009 6,000
IBM 01/24/2009 2,800
Microsoft 01/22/2009 5,000
Ericsson 01/21/2009 5,000
Logitech 01/19/2009 600
AMD 01/16/2009 1,100
Autodesk 01/15/2009 750
Cymer 01/15/2009 100
Motorola 01/14/2009 4,000
Plantronics 01/14/2009 18%
PlanetOut 01/14/2009 50%
Oracle 01/14/2009 500
Lexmark 01/13/2009 375
Seagate 01/12/2009 800
Dell 01/08/2009 1,900
Lenovo 01/08/2009 2,500
EMC 01/07/2009 2,400
The entire Republican ideas, believes, & culture doesn’t belong in the 21st century. Unfortunately, it will get worse with time as they pull further away from the people & true American concept. Republican thinking & reasoning will always be different from the people. How can they fix what they can’t even understand, so they result to game the system. The concept is actually very simple. The GOP is proving once again that they don’t care about the people. Instead of helping the country in this state of crisis, they are busy playing their famous game ‘me first, country last’ but make no mistake GOP, the people will give you their answer in 2010. If you can’t look out for the people then you should not be in the senate. All this talk about tax cut is just to support the only ones you look out for, the rich. They are the ones that will always have jobs. Even, a 5yr old child know that if daddy doesn’t have a job, daddy can’t pay tax. So even a 100% tax cut will not help daddy. 5million job loss, in 1or 2yrs, another 5million, so GOP tell me how tax cut will help 10million people with no jobs to tax. & how will local govt & states balance their budgets with no revenues to collect (no property tax & no income tax due to home loss & job loss). & yet their expenses tripled, in some states quadrupled.
Jung Kim,
It is sad to witness the collapse of ideas and ideals of the GOP which I used to admire 25 years ago. However, the current crisis might be more than political ideology, the foundation of our economy, of our capitalist system is cracking down. We simply have spent more than we have earned. Our economy has been based on a mere credit card spending extravaganza with no limits.
* on the other hand, I am strongly against the new California’s sharp tax increases, while spending cuts are not enough.
Japanese exports fell 50%, year-over-year, in the month of January, the largest decline since 1957. Exports to China were off 45%.
Those ministers along with other Blacks in the area either have been waiting in the background for something or anything to recall him.
As far as voting on Stimulus, he was reported by the Times Picayune, as saying that he was going to vote for the Stimulus package whether or not his fellow Republicans liked it or not. Cao felt that it was more about what people in his district needed not about him.
However, many fail to give him the benefit of a doubt instead wanting to recall him because he decided not to vote for the Stimulus package. This was after they started trim some fat from the original Stimulus package.
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/president_obama_courts_vote_of.html
Jung Kim, I did not know that you had it in you to question your own party. Does this mean you will be changing to the Libertarian or Independent party? Hahaha.
Will Ukraine default ? :
“The situation in Ukraine is the worst in the world… The country is in danger. Its citizens are in danger.” This is the analysis of Ukraine’s economy in a memo allegedly written by Viktor Pynzenyk, Ukraine’s now ex-finance minister after he resigned in February, which was posted on a respected news website at the end of January.
Amid the political war in the country between President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who seem more preoccupied with mudslinging than policy-making, a UN report in January placed Ukraine as the country most likely to default on its debts.
** After breaking away from Soviet control, Ukraine seems to have degenerated into brutal factional fights for power **
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Rose to 667,000 Last Week
First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week and total benefit rolls soared to a record high, a sign companies may keep shedding jobs as the recession worsens.
First-time unemployment applications increased by 36,000 to 667,000, the highest since 1982, in the week that ended on Feb. 21 from a revised 631,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The number of people staying on benefit rolls rose in the previous week by 114,000 to 5.112 million.
Vietnamese in Orange county
* Jobless rate : higher than average due to concentration in hi-tech, approximately 10% to 12%
* Home equity decline : $150,000 to $250,000 per typical home owner.
* Business failure rate : higher than average due to demand contraction.
* College opportunity : fewer due to admission cuts by many state universities, with higher out-of pocket expenses.
* Nail business : high-end stores used to sell for $250,000, now going for $150,000. Most stores have lost 20% to 35% customers.
* Restaurant business : sales has dropped 20% to 35% while inventory costs increase.
* Real estate business : activities have dropped 50% to 80%. Many offices have closed.
** My question : Does any one care ! **
Economic Depression :
* California unemployment rate reaches 10.1% with more layoffs coming.
* California taxes are highest in the nation.
* 25% of Orange County homes are now upside down with mortgage amount higher than market value.
** Even if you lose your job and your house, you still have to pay higher taxes **
* Most Vietnamese nail workers work for cash or as independent contractors, so they do not qualified for un-employment insurance.
* Most Vietnamese restaurant workers work for cash or as independent contractors, so they do not qualified for un-employment insurance.
* Most Vietnamese business owners work as independent contractors, so they do not qualified for un-employment insurance.
* Most Vietnamese real estate agents work as independent contractors, so they do not qualified for un-employment insurance.
* Most Vietnamese manual construction workers work for cash or as independent contractors, so they do not qualified for un-employment insurance.
Conclusion : The jobless rate within the Vietnamese community should be around 13% to 15% right now.
China’s employment prospects for college graduates :
* Around 6 million recent graduates who finished university in mid 2008, and only 2.5 million of them will be able to land a job.
* Estimates for 2009 are much worse, in the range of 1.5 to 2.0 million only.
US employment prospects for college graduates:
Estimates by major:
Business » 40 percent
Engineering » 65 percent
Computer science » 60 percent
Marketing, advertising and communications » 35 percent
Sciences » 60 percent
Health sciences » 75 percent
Liberal arts and humanities » 40 percent
Social science » 30 percent
All other majors »40 percent
* Prospect for Vietnamese graduates with an engineering degree from a second tier California college system is about 50%.
* Why so low ?
* Because of poor command of English : while most Vietnamese graduates are fluent in colloquial English, they exhibit poor command of business etiquette.
* An engineering degree is only half of what it takes to land an engineering job.
* The other half is social leadership and team-work.
The world is awash with unsold cars everywhere :
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/02/unsold-cars-around-the-world/
Median Home Price in Detroit in Dec 2008 is $7,500.
* It is lower than price of a new car.
* It could be charged with credit card.
** Home price reflects costs of locational opportunity **
Map of Misery :
http://www.socalbubble.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/map_of_misery.jpg
More foreclosures to come due to still high number of option arm mortgages and upside down mortgages for the next 12 months.
Collapse of American Capitalism:
1. Crony capitalism in which money is siphoned off and funneled to one’s pals (bank rescues).
2. Gangster capitalism in which legitimate competitors are restricted/limited by regulations designed to favor the gangsters’ enterprises, or by financial legerdemain or threats/blackmail/seizure.
3. Monopoly capitalism in which an oligarchy owns controlling stakes in key institutions and enterprises, and then maintains a carefully tended facade of “competition” to shroud the reality of plutocracy.
4. Pie-in-the-sky capitalism as presented by ideologically funded think-tanks and MSM/plutocracy shills in academia, NGOs (non-governmental organizations, a.k.a. non-profits) and the media.
Virtually every example of monopoly/crony capitalism can be cleaned up via propaganda and manipulated/edited “data” into shiny “free market capitalism” if sufficient manure, oops, I mean funding, is shoveled into the think-tanks and shills’ pockets.
5. Central government planning masquerading as “free market capitalism.” Look no further than the millions of dollars in contracts awarded under the umbrellas of Homeland Security and Defense. Not to mention TARP, “loans” to the so-called “domestic” auto industry, and other blatant central planning/politically driven awards within supposedly “competitive” structures.
http://www.oftwominds.com/blogfeb09/nationalization02-09.html
A visual explanation of the current financial crisis:
http://vimeo.com/3261363