Wednesday 1 August News Articles and Observations

Here a few news articles from Wednesday 1 August and some brief observations on them.


A. Corrupt GOP Politicians Rife in Last Frontier


The stench is getting bigger from beyond the Great White North. It is very disappointing to see such blatant corruption from such long serving public servants.


http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/07/whats_the_matter_with_alaska.html


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B. Democrats Begin to Fight Free Trade


This is an important issue where the Democrats can score big on. Free trade has had dire repurcussions on the American worker, eliminating millions of manufacturing jobs nationwide in the last 15-20 years and resulting in lower wages with virtual stagnation in pay increases. Big changes are needed to bring trade and the disparity of imports to exports so the American citizenry and working class can be empowered economically and socially again. Ultimately, that means tariffs and levies on imported goods, primarily from China and an assessment of 10 to 20 % is in order.


http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/18562.html


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C. Grim News with Murdoch Takeover of Dow Jones and Wall Street Journal


The continued compaction of news media into a small oligopoly continues with severe consequences on both readers and professionals working in the industry. We need a broad anti-trust action against this growing threat to democracy, free speech, and competitive capitalism. A return to media ownership rules and laws that existed in the 1980s and before is essentially necessary with strict limitations and limited cross media ownerships and interests.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-silver/murdoch-bad-for-journali_b_58583.html


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D. Balance of Power Lost Over War Powers Authority


Constitutionally, Congress was supposed to be the authority for authorization of war actions. That has been totally lost to the Executive Branch which has shifted power and resulted in a loss of any accountability and assessment by the Legislative Branch. This is not what the Framers put in the Constitution, but it is difficult to imagine any possibility of a return to the original framework and authority originally written into the Constitution with the kind of people in Washington today and in the near future. Too bad for all of us.


http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/08/war-powers-rest.html#more


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