from senator:
U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) today made the following statement regarding the President's announcement concerning Chrysler:
"Like families and workers across Michigan, I am disheartened by today's news. It's outrageous that after workers, management, and a majority of bondholders came to the table and negotiated in good faith, a small number of hedge funds and creditors refused to compromise and now Chrysler is forced to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
"I am confident that Chrysler will emerge from bankruptcy, with its strategic partner Fiat, as a revitalized, viable company. Also, I am gratified that the deal announced today will protect the health care and pension benefits of our auto workers and retirees. Yet, we understand that there will be more pain to come for people in Michigan. The White House has committed to helping workers who lose their jobs and the communities that are affected. I am focused on working with the President to bring tangible assistance that those families and communities need to survive this turmoil. And I will fight to keep as many jobs in Michigan as possible and preserve our communities.
"For those on Capitol Hill and Wall Street who don't seem to understand what this crisis is all about, I'm here to tell them that it's about people. It's about families. It's about communities and jobs. This is about saving our manufacturing base. I understand that we're fighting to preserve our way of life in Michigan, advance the middle-class in America, and rebuild the backbone of our economy.
"The global economic crisis has demonstrated that we must build things in America. I will work every day to make that happen and create jobs here at home." - U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow

How can all of "The Best And The Brightest" students be educated for productive roles in society? It is they, who must cooperate, and quickly and reliably respond, in times of crisis, and with the best answers! IMO, our greatest crisis as a society, may be our lack of international friends?

Want to know which hedge funds deserted Chrysler? Here's the info:

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/04/30/jp-morgan-chase-forces-chry...

Update: JPMorgan Chase may have been willing to deal. It was a couple of hedge funds that were the final holdouts.

The holdouts are no longer the big four banks (and TARP recipients) that together own 70 percent of Chrysler's debt. Both the Journal and the Washington Post have fingered three hedge funds -- Oppenheimer Funds, Perella Weinberg Partners' Xerion Capital Fund and Stairway Cap Management -- as the sticklers. The government is faced with the unenviable prospect of getting unanimous consent from all the bondholders to make a deal, which gives the hedge funds extraordinary leverage. In the parlance of Wall Street, taking a hit on what you are owed is known as a "haircut." The hedge funds seem to be allergic to the barbershop.

I did get to speak to Sen Sanders this morning but didn't get my full question out.
Sen Sanders said the banks were committing illegal acts. My question is, "THEN WHERE IS CONGRESS?" If they know of illegal activities it is their duty to investigate. Course, this will probably go the way of the torture issue. Torture is not a debate. It is criminal & war criminals should be investigated.

Doesn't the whole deal come down to one basic question -

Do we want the banks to control the government
or ...
Do we want the government to control the banks?

If corporations have been granted "personhood" - essentially a form of US citizenship - shouldn't they be required to reside in the US and have all their assets within the borders of the United States? In other words, if most of their business is located outside the US - are they truly US citizens - or are they really global corporations masquerading as US companies to qualify for "personhood?"

I loved seeing the Stanford Students asking Condeleeza Rice the tough questions that the main stream media won't. These confrontations will become more common now due to the widespread use of the digital cell phone camera and the proliferation of YouTube. I look forward to seeing more of these "truth sessions" on YouTube in the future.

Bigotry needs to be extracted from our institutions. If we had a sufficient federal 'hate-crime' law, that would work to set a benchmark against bigotry in law.

I think school segregation could even be considered another version of a hate-crime; and unequal pay based on gender, or denial of civil rights to gays, anti-worker outsourcing practices -- these too are cultural bigotry enforced by/in our institutions to keep bigotry alive. Exposing this is what the bigots fear, and they do not want a benchmark hate-crime law passed that will change the national acceptence of bigotry throughout our culture!

Dear Thom,

I couldn't get through because of a curt and unduly preemptive call-screener. I had wanted to share 2 comments, one small and the other a bit bigger. The small comment is that I was very pleased to hear President Obama call the funds that the car companies got from the government what they are; tax payer money. Pardon the pun but thank you Obama for calling a spade a spade.
The bigger comment is this. For 3 years now I've listened to your show and Air America, and I get angry every time I hear the phrase "the war against the middle-class". I'm reminded of the story of the priest in Hitler's Germany. When the SS came for the gypsies, he said nothing because he wasn't a gypsy. When the SS came for the homosexuals, he said nothing because he wasn't gay. And when they finally came for him, there was no one left to say anything for him because he didn't speak up for his "brothers" when he could. I've been lower-class (i.e. poor) all my life. I don't resent this as it has taught me great fortitude, humility and gratitude for the things I do have. But, from a global perspective, I have felt for decades that if the middle-class had done more for the lower-class in the 60's, 70's, 80's and/or the 90's, instead of concentrating on trying to join the so called upper-class, then they wouldn't be fighting a rear-guard action on their assets now. The middle-class is just now getting a taste of what I've feasted on my whole life. I've never had medical insurance a single day in my life, but folks didn't erupt until their own insurance was threatened. The same holds true for jobs, education, housing and so many other parts of American society. And the sad part is that we can be so much better than this. We have the potential. We just need to wake up and grow up.
All one. Take care, Anna (Portland,OR)

Help push populist by agendas ie by calling the rep. Talk shows posing as a republican. (tax lobying $ ) stop big buisness from hiring illigal workers. The GOP is reinvinting itself , we need to give them some ideas.

Thom, I am so sorry for the loss of your mom. Like you, I grew up in Michigan---in Montcalm County, "Little Denmark," and my mother passed away last summer at the age of 92 after a blessed life of compassionate service to others. Your mother must have been a remarkable woman to raise a son like you, Thom! My thoughts are with you as you return to the Lake Country to bury her. All the best to you and your family at this sad moment, KH

I sent the following thoughts to each of the 12 "Democrats" who voted against Sen. Durbin's mortgage renegotiation amendment last Thursday:

I watch the way a few greedy hedge funds force Chrysler to have to declare bankruptcy; I sigh at the dozen or so Democrats who support their financial backers by voting against the ability of strapped homeowners to be able to renegotiate the value of their homes in order to save them and I realize there's nothing left for those of us who built this country. There's no way UP anymore. And we die like dogs without health care...

This country was founded to throw off these yokes. Now we are bound, hand and foot, into a life of servitude and little else. We are truly "whipped." French farmers have more right to protest than working men and women in this country.

What is left --- A life of crime?

A British study analyzed life under a "conservative" government and under a "liberal" government. It found there were many more suicides under the conservative government.

When will "the people" matter?

P.S.
The 12 who voted against the amendment are:

Why not name all 12 of the “Democrats” voting against this helpful housing/mortgage relief amendment? They were:

Baucus (D-MT)
Bennet (D-CO)
Byrd (D-WV)
Carper (D-DE)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Johnson (D-SD)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Specter (D-PA)
Tester (D-MT)

Looks like Senator Specter hasn’t crossed the aisle yet.

http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/05/01/among-democrats-a-rift...

The American People are not up to speed on science. It is important that
we understand the significance of H1N1. I am hearing the same dismissive
comments I received when I told my peers that the economy was based on
pure debt illusions. Everybody rolled their eyes! Our wolrd has become truly complicated and the Renaissance mentality of interdisciplinary studies must
be fostered. We all need to be amateur Virologists, Climatologists and Economists to survive this 21St Century. This is my fist post and I have been
listening to Thom for years. We need more people like him!!!

Swine H1N1 Transmission From Human to Swine
Recombinomics Commentary 07:10
May 3, 2009
The pigs in Alberta were thought to be infected by a farm worker who returned from Mexico on April 12 and began working on the farm two days later. Officials noticed the pigs had flu-like symptoms April 24, Evans said.

Approximately 10 percent of the 2,200 pigs on the farm have been infected, Evans said.

The above comments describe the transmission of the H1N1 swine flu from an infected farm worker to swine in Alberta, Canada. This efficient transmission from human to swine suggests that much of the speculation in the past week is overly optimistic.

The virus is swine, WHO newspeak notwithstanding, and contains six swine gene segments as well as a human PB1 and an avian PB2 that have been in swine for more than a decade. Therefore, although swine to swine transmission is not unexpected, the trans mission from human to swine is striking. The H1N1 is called swine H1N1 for scientific reason. It is not a “nickname” as some media accounts mis-report, but a descriptive name that defines its normal host. The species differences in sequence are easily determined, and species jumps are rare, but can be deadly. Usually the virus replicates most effectively in is host species.

The jump to humans is cause for concern. The last time as swine flu jumped to human and was efficiently spread in the new host was in 1918.

The fact that the virus can jump from human to swine as well as swine to humans suggests this virus is not going to fade away. It has already moved into the southern hemisphere. Suspect cases have been reported in Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand, where the seasonal flu season is just beginning.

Co-circulation of human and swine H1N1 provide significant opportunities for adaptation to the human host via recombination. Two polymorphisms are already fixed in seasonal flu, H274Y for Tamiflu resistance, and E627K in PB2 which allows the virus to more efficiently replicate at lower temperatures.

These changes can lead to adaptation in humans, as well antiviral resistance. Therefore, the evolution of the H1N1 over the summer will be closely monitored. The current H1N1 has already acquired tandem human H1N1 polymorphism in HA, which may have led to the species jump from swine to human.

Thus, the efficient transmission from swine to human and vice verse, raises concerns that further adaptation to humans can lead to a fall pandemic similar to 1918. The species jump indicates the virus can adapt to a new host, and additional acquisitions over the summer continue to be a cause for concern.