Moving Targets
The Moving Ideas' Blog - Keeping you on top of current Policy Issues and Activism
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- No Du-Bid Contracts for Halliburton
Halliburton, the company formerly run by Vice President Dick Cheney, the company that has become the primary civilian contractor in Iraq, the company that the Bush Administration has tasked with caring for our troops (feeding them, etc.), the company that is supposed to be cleaning up New Orleans, is moving its corporate headquarters from Houston to Dubai. While it will maintain an office in Houston, it will essentially become a foreign company. And with the move, I think it is only appropriate to cut it off from the US taxpayer’s teat.
Mon, 12 Mar 2007 15:45:31 -0500 - Is It Hypocrisy?
Newt Gingrich has admitted that he was having an adulterous affair at the time he was leading the charge against President Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Now let's agree that having an affair is an unacceptable breach of trust between a husband and a wife. But let's look at the political side of his adultery. Gingrich says he is not a hypocrite because, "The president of the United States got in trouble for committing a felony in front of a sitting federal judge... I drew a line in my mind that said, 'Even though I run the risk of being deeply embarrassed, and even though at a purely personal level I am not rendering judgment on another human being, as a leader of the government trying to uphold the rule of law, I have no choice except to move forward and say that you cannot accept ... perjury in your highest officials." But let's remember, Clinton should have never given that deposition before the court in the first place.
Sun, 11 Mar 2007 08:52:19 -0500 - Extra, Extra: News You Should Not Ignore
This is just a quick hit, but something worth noting. We all know that there are 135,000 US troops in Iraq, but did you know that we also have 120,000 non-military personnel there too, including lots of mercenaries working for companies like Blackwater and interrogators woring for companies like CACI.
Wed, 07 Mar 2007 12:17:19 -0500 - We Care a Lot, So We Privatize
“We care a lot about the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines.” We care so much we send them to war without proper body and vehicle armor. We care so much that we send them to a medical facility when they return home broken in body and mind that not only infested with black mold and vermin, but run by a Defense Department that is incentivized to minimize the number of veterans who qualify for care, especially mental health care. We care so much about our troops, that instead of providing the funds necessary to correct these problems, we pay out billions to no-bid contractors like Halliburton, Blackwater, CACI, and IAP Worldwide Services (headed by a former Halliburton executive) to privatize the military without any real accountability.
Tue, 06 Mar 2007 10:40:23 -0500 - We Have a March to Finish
Hillary Clinton placed herself at the heart of the civil rights movement at the 42nd anniversary of the march in Selma. She attended a speech by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. She knew so many of the leaders of the movement. She was married to a man they all loved. And she even rolled out an occasional twang as she spoke (and not a New York twang).
Sun, 04 Mar 2007 14:26:20 -0500 - Moses and Joshua
Barrack Obama’s speech in Selma drove to the heart of lessons learned from the civil rights movement. Lessons taught by the Moses generation of great leaders from those troubled days taught to today’s Joshua generation. Moses taught Joshua to seize life, work hard, learn, achieve. Stop making excuses and saying you can’t do things, he said, do it, change the world by changing yourself first.
Sun, 04 Mar 2007 13:53:10 -0500 - Who’s Afraid of the Employee Free Choice Act?
Editor's Note: This guest blog comes from John Logan of the London School of Economics
The Employee Free Choice Act is one of the most important pieces of legislation being considered by the new Congress, yet many people have probably never heard of it. If they have, they have most likely heard the version that corporate America and right-wing want them to hear: that the bill would deny employees the right to vote in workplace elections and leave them exposed to coercion by unscrupulous union organizers. It’s a good line, but nothing could be further from the truth. The entire purpose of the Employee Free Choice Act is to defend employee choice and protect them from the employer intimidation and harassment that is currently endemic in the American workplace when employees attempt to form a union.
Wed, 28 Feb 2007 16:31:30 -0500 - Terror on the Rise
A new report by Mother Jones finds terrorism up 600 percent since the start of the Iraq war. "Bring em' on," he said. Thanks.
Can anyone tell me what winning in Iraq looks like? Can anyone tell me what winning the war on terror looks like?
Thu, 22 Feb 2007 21:21:40 -0500 - What Did I Miss?
I have been sporadic with my postings lately because my dad got very sick. Sadly, he passed away on February 7. I am working things back into my routine, so I expect my posts will become more frequent now.
That said, what is happening in the world?
We got a deal with North Korea. Looks alot like the deal we had under Clinton. Looks like it was achieved by a combination of multi-party and direct, two-party talks with Kim Jong Il. Hopefully, it will work this time, but if the rest looks like the last deal, odds are this will go the same way. Unless the next Administration continues to honor the deal and the North Koreans keep their end. Big ifs.
Thu, 22 Feb 2007 20:39:25 -0500 - Debt Relief vs. the Vultures
Despite President Bush's State of the Union comments regarding his commitment to debt relief for the poorest nations, things aren't going so well. Friends of the President, as in large campaign contributor friends, have been buying these bonds at sharply discounted rates, designed to provide relief to the indebted nations, and turning around to charge these nations more than ten times what the bond cost these vultures.
Sat, 17 Feb 2007 17:51:34 -0500 - Bogusing the Budget
In a classic use of budgetary smoke and mirrors, President Bush presented Congress with his proposed $2.9 trillion federal budget this week, claiming that it reduces the deficit and is on track to be balanced in five years. Aside from the easy claim that it is projected to be balanced three years after the President leaves office, there is a $245 billion gorilla sitting off-budget called war that doesn’t enter into his deficit calculations. In fact, including the current request for $245 billion to cover the next year and a half of costs for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to total cost of the wars will hit $662 billion dollars, all off-budget, all adding to the $8.7 trillion national debt, a debt so large that it take over 40 percent of the nation’s personal income tax revenue to pay the annual interest.
Tue, 06 Feb 2007 10:03:53 -0500 - National Health Insurance is Affordable
Yesterday on Meet the Press, Democratic candidate for President John Edwards suggested his plan for national health insurance would cost $90 to $120 billion a year to fund and would require raising taxes (this is on top of existing government programs, I am assuming). Now before everyone freaks out, let’s look at the big picture. Increased taxes for national health insurance would be offset not only by cost savings accrued when Americans stop using the emergency room for non-emergency care, but also from reductions in insurance premiums now paid by families and employers.
Mon, 05 Feb 2007 11:17:45 -0500 - Congress Removes the Gag from Government Global Warming Scientists
The Democrats have taken over Congress. Let science reign!
After years of the Bush Administration’s efforts to suppress and alter the global warming research by scientists working for us, the taxpayers, new House Government Reform and Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) has finally provided a public platform for climate researchers from NOAA to share the uncensored findings of their research and to expose systematic efforts by the Bush Administration to gag them.
Thu, 01 Feb 2007 10:13:07 -0500 - Who's He Talking About?
In perhaps the most ironic speech of his Presidency, Geroge W. Bush made the case in hi annual State of the Economy address that Chief Executives' salaries should be linked to performance. Does this mean he thinks his own salary should be linked to his performance? If so, around 70 percent of the country is demanding he return most of it.
Thu, 01 Feb 2007 10:03:55 -0500 - Live from the Health Action 2007 Conference
Moving Ideas Network member Families USA is hosting a great conference today and tomorrow at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. The Health Action 2007 conference gathers health advocates from across the country to share ideas about how to make health care affordable to all Americans. Today, we have already heard from Senators Barack Obama (D-IL) and Gordon Smith (R-OR). Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) was supposed to speak now, but has been rescheduled for tomorrow. Tune in to the webcast from the conference here.
Thu, 25 Jan 2007 14:57:55 -0500
