Lobotero’s Info Ink

Bush administration officials knew that a Texas oil company with close ties to President Bush was planning to sign an oil deal with the regional Kurdistan government that ran counter to American policy and undercut Iraq’s central government, a Congressional committee has concluded.

As reported in the NY Times, it appears the the oil men running this country have assisted the awarding of a oil contract to a Texas firm.

The conclusions were based on e-mail messages and other documents that the committee released Wednesday.

United States policy is to warn companies that they incur risks in signing contracts until Iraq passes an oil law and to strengthen Iraq’s central government. The Kurdistan deal, by ceding responsibility for writing contracts directly to a regional government, infuriated Iraqi officials. But State Department officials did nothing to discourage the deal and in some cases appeared to welcome it, the documents show.

The company, Hunt Oil of Dallas, signed the deal with Kurdistan’s semiautonomous government last September. Its chief executive, Ray L. Hunt, a close political ally of President Bush, briefed an advisory board to Mr. Bush on his contacts with Kurdish officials before the deal was signed.

In an e-mail message released by the Congressional committee, a State Department official in Washington, briefed by a colleague about the impending deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government, wrote: “Many thanks for the heads up; getting an American company to sign a deal with the K.R.G. will make big news back here. Please keep us posted.”

Iraq’s oil minister, Hussain al-Shahristani, has condemned the Kurdistan deal as illegal because it was not approved by Iraq’s central government and was struck without an oil law, which has still not been passed.

The encouragement by State Department officials did not end with the signing of the contract on Sept. 8, the documents suggest. Five days later, a State Department official in the southern city of Basra wrote to Ms. Phillips, “I read and heard about with interest your deal with the regional Kurdish government.”

“I don’t know if you are aware of another opportunity,” the official wrote, mentioning an enormous port project and a natural gas project in the south. After a few more lines, the official concluded, “This seems like it would be a good opportunity for Hunt.”

My monthly feature of scoring how our dynamite US Congress is doing continues. They spent more time in hearings than on anything of substance, but I found a few issues that they weighed in on.

So far in 2008, here is how I see the Congress.

Jan–1 step backwards
Feb–No step–a stand still
Mar–2 steps backwards

Apr–1 step forward

May–3 steps forward

Some far after a slow start in the first of the year, the Congress seems to be moving in the right direction, but will it last?

Here is how I graded the month of June 2008.

1–Paper on the misleading on Iraq–Backward

2–Failure of Global Warming init.–Backward

3–Failure of windfall profit tax–backward

4–Bill to give more visas for fashion models–backward

5–Bill for unemployment extension–Forward

6–Pass of war funds–no step–only because there were provisions in there for the benefits of the vets.

7–Pass the FISA Bill–Backward

The score for the month for our Congress is a total of 4 steps backwards.

May was a good month for the Congress, but they did what they do best–neutralized any good by going in reverse.

Please remind me, why we voted these guys into office in 2006.

The Republicans are saying in this election cycle that the biggest problem that the country and government will face is how to pay for the entitlement programs, like Social Security, medicare, etc. There plan and one that McCain is embracing hardily is to give tax cuts and lower entitlement payments.

You know I have listened and thought on this subject for several days and I have come up with a novel idea—END THE WAR! (sarcasm intended) How many trillions, that is trillions with a “T”, is the war gonna cost the American taxpayer? Could not that money be spent here in this country on…I don’t know….entitlements?

Have you noticed that both candidates are promising jobs or emplyment. But they are not addressing the immediate concerns of the people. They both are giving obscure solutions to complex problems. Hell, I will promise you whatever you want if you will vote for me. My point is, they ALL have lied to you and you do not seem to care. You do not hold them accountable for their lies. Why is that?

Both plans seem to say, “screw the American taxpayer”. Why not? After all they are the ones that finance the whole damn government. Corporations get all the assistence they can stand, but yet the people and the entitlement programs have to stand raid after raid just to make a few a couple more bucks. At what point do the American people become the most important issue? At what point do the American people who have fought and worked for this country deserve an adequate life?

What part of this government is truly showing a concern for the American people? Better yet, what part of this government is a government for the people? Your vote is very important, so please use it wisely. Do not let them keep your ignorant, learn the issues and how it will realistically impact your life, not the lame promises of the past, but real issues and real solutions.

Democrats in the Congress, who came to power last year on a call to end the combat in Iraq, will soon give President George W. Bush the last war-funding bill of his presidency without any of the conditions they sought for withdrawing U.S. troops, congressional aides said on Monday

Lawmakers are arranging to send Bush $165 billion in new money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, enough to last for about a year and well beyond when Bush leaves office on January 20.

A House of Representatives vote on the war-funding bill was expected this week. Anything the House passes would have to be approved by the Senate before the legislation is sent to Bush.

With the Pentagon running out of money to continue fighting the two wars, Congress is trying to approve new funds before its July 4 holiday recess.

With this bill, Congress will have written checks for more than $800 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with most of the money going to Iraq.

Since January, 2007, when Democrats took majority control of the House and Senate, they have tried to force Bush to change course in Iraq, mostly through troop withdrawal timetables and requirements that U.S. soldiers be more thoroughly trained, equipped and rested before returning to combat.

Just what did you vote for in 2006?  Whatever it was–it is not getting accomplished.

The Ohio representative outlined his intention to propose more than two dozen charges against Bush on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Kucinich, a former presidential candidate, accused Bush executing a “calculated and wide-ranging strategy” to deceive citizens and Congress into believing that Iraq posed an imminent threat to the United States.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly said she opposes trying to remove the Republican president who leaves office next January because such an attempt would be divisive and most likely unsuccessful.
Kucinich, an outspoken Iraq war critic who has consistently voted against funding the war and led anti-war efforts in Congress, offered a resolution to impeach Vice president Dick Cheney in April 2007. That also failed to move forward.

Many Democrats and civil liberties groups have accused the Bush administration of providing misleading information before the 2003 Iraq invasion as well as violating the rights of U.S. citizens with its warrantless surveillance program. The White House denies the charges

Now I would like to hear what others think.  Personally, I want all aspects of this BS to come to light.  Someone has to be held accountable for the deaths of 4000+ Americans.

This is what is being said:

The long-awaited report, the last in a series published over the past several years by the committee, found that Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, in particular, frequently made assertions in the run-up to the war that key intelligence agencies could not substantiate or about which there was substantial disagreement within the intelligence community.

“In making the case for war, the administration repeatedly presented intelligence as fact when in reality it was unsubstantiated, contradicted, or even nonexistent,” the Committee chairman, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, said on releasing the 172-page report. “As a result, the American people were led to believe that the threat from Iraq was much greater than actually existed.”

The Senate issued this report.  Now may I see a show of hands of the people that did not know this already?  my question is why are they wasting time on crap like this–it is common knowledge.  Surely, there are more important things that they could be addressing–I don’t know—maybe health care, ending the war or how about education or something as mundane?  (sarcasm intended)

The United States has leaked what can only exist in the imagination of science fiction writers. It wants to turn its fortress in Baghdad called the Green Zone into a shiny, tourist village with a ‘dream list’ of attractions.

This ‘science fiction’ mentality has been there in the minds of the architects of the Iraq invasion in the U.S., both military and civil leaders.

The U.S. still dreams of transforming its Green Zone, the symbol of its dreadful and horrific military and security machine that has imploded a whole nation into a ‘tourist village.’

The zone is seen in Iraq as a symbol center of terror and oppression. It is dislocated from its surroundings. It is a world the U.S. has created for itself and ringed it with blast walls and concrete bocks.

It is already a very beautiful place for its reclusive inhabitants who even lack the courage to drive to the airport and are mostly airlifted there.

Iraqis resisting U.S. occupation and its lackeys target the zone almost on a daily basis hoping to force their occupiers to leave.

Iraqis do not expect positive things from the U.S. They have already seen what its troops and policies have done to their capital and the rest of their country.

The thought of constructing a fascinating village around its $700 million embassy intensifies their rancor and indignation at what U.S. policy makers have done to their country.

The U.S. has dismembered Baghdad through the concrete barriers it has built to separate its neighborhoods.

The U.S. wants to build a ‘dream village’ in Baghdad at a time its bombers are being deployed to strafe the streets and densely populated areas.

The engineers and the architects the U.S. will hire to design and build this village will need to pay more attention to watch towers, electronic fences and war gadgets on how to protect it.

U.S.’s dream village is a plan to set up a paradise in hell.

Why not?  Americans try to find ways to kill themselves daily, just make it easier and all will be happier.

Just thought I would use my blog to help people understand our political system and its many factions.  The first will be the reason why the is not a US Labor party.

Why No U.S. Labor Party?

Every country in the world, just about, has a labor party, but not the US and why
is that?  I mean we have tons of workers, but they have no party.  They have the
Democrats and if you think that is a labor party, youshould return to the 7th grade
and start over.  The Dems just as the Repubics, are not a working person party,
they are a party of elites elected by the people to lead them into a better life.
ROFLMAO!  Sorry, I could say that without laughing hardily.

Remember my "way back" machine?  Let us step into it and go way back,
the year is 1900's, the early years.  The  Socialist Party is in its infantcy
and the workers are being crapped on regularly by the industrialists.  What should
the workers do to assure themselves of representation?

Before we continue, let us look at the American worker of these days.  Workers in
the US did not have to struggle with political oppression, as did their counterparts
in England and Europe.  The workers in the Us had a complete faith in their political
system; the workers in US thought they had a special relationship with the state
and because of the relationship they did feel they needed a special party to assure
them of their political rights.

It is now 1901, The American Federation of Labor rejects the idea of a broad workers
base for political gain, instead, Samuel Gompers, pres of the AFL decided that the
workers needed an economic organization to lead them.  He decided that an independent
working class political party would not help the worker and he, then decided the
the representation of the worker would be for economic reasons, like bread and butter
issues.  The problem was that none of the membership of the AFL was consulted about
the decision, only they leaders made the decision for all the workers.  Another
elitist leading the people into what they see as their future.  The only winners
in this move were the owners of the means of production, the workers rolled snake
eyes.

Now after over 100 yrs of this type of representation, what has the worker acheived?
Not much, the trade unions only try to protect the worker from economic hardships,
while ignoring the political arena, where the worker should be focusing his efforts.
Because of Gompers decision a 100 yrs ago the worker is nothing but a tool to be
used by the capitalist sector and is exploited, with no political say other than
every 4 yrs and then it is a whisper, where it should be a scream.

Today Jihn McCain went to North Carolina so that he could be in the news with the Dems after the primary.  His main reason was to go to Wake Forest University and talk about the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court.  How nice.

He made sure early in the speech to tell everyone what the founding fathers had in mind by setting up the three branches of government.  Ok, it was a bit like a 7th grade Civics class.  The 3 were there for the purpose of checks and balances–to be sure that no one branch would have more influence over the people than the other.

Again how nice?  But think about what was just said.  But every president wants to appoint Supreme Court judges that reflect the tone of the in power administration…right?

If that is, then would not that make two of the branches that were banded together against the third?  If true then where would the checks and balances be?  Does not the president appointing his favorite judges tend to flying in the face of separate branches of government?  Would not then the president would have a more powerful base from which to work?  Now, does that not fly into the face of the founding fathers?

Questions…..small answers.

This is something I think the US needs desperately.  Some may call this Anarchy, or Socialism or whatever you want–it does not matter the title; what matters is that we need it now.

Revolutionary Democracy

What is it?  How does it work?  Before I answer these and other questions, I need to let the reader know that as an observer, I write like I think, I have no time to be grammatically correct, so if for some reason it offends the readers sensibilities, I would say……..Okay.

Please, because the word “revolutionary” is used it is not necessarily meaning some form of armed conflict.  If one cannot move past some arbitarily defined word, then move on, we do not need your input.

I am a revolutionary democrat.  That does not mean I am a member of the Democratic party, far from, it means that I see a need for drastic changes in our system of government.  While I might agree with some of the stances of the DP, I should by no means be confused for a lame half-witted liberal. A revolutionary democrat sees the following as necessities:

1–aim for fundamental change. such as a redistribution of power and social equality.

2–insist on the big picture, making connections between concrete issues and causes.

3–emphaasize brotherhood which implies giving up on stands that only fragment such as the damn silly thought of partisanship.

4–the emergence of a mass movement rather than the acting “for” the people.

5–to work outside the box of electoral politics, for the party system is committed to the nation state not the needs of the people.

Revolutionary Democracy sees the multinational corporations, imperialism and a new form of colonialism as the harbingers of a world crisis.  It is time for the people to take control of their lives and their country.  The people must demand and get accountability from their representatives, something they have none of today.  Time for the people to step up to the plate and learn to play ball; to take the decision making out of the hands of millionaires and put into the hands of the people.  A time for participatory democracy, where all lead and all govern.

At the present time in this political epoch, with corruption, scandal and non-caring, the reps you now have are nothing but spokespeople for big business and the wealthy.  They only care about the people every 4 years or so, once they have the vote they move on to their real objective–self-interest.

As long as the people continue on their path of subjugation, they will never have a voice in their destiny, just turn it over to those who prefer to lead and will lead to the path of ruin.

Right now, the people have the ways to take back their country and their government, but they must want to change the world and must want to end the political slavery they are now participating in.