Mitch Stewart if barackobama.com just asked me to post this email message from me to you:

Hi,

President Obama has named Elena Kagan, the current Solicitor General, as his nominee for U.S. Supreme Court.

I just added my name to the growing list of Americans in support of her nomination. Will you join me?

http://my.barackobama.com/kaganforjustice-share

Thanks!

In the article, Coming Solar Storms Could Slam US into Third Depression, Terrence Aym explains why we can forget about our political problems.  With the coming of the era of increased solar activity, billions of people can be wiped out and the developed world will be set back 150 years..

Did I say this before? “My sister may be right in her predictions of the imminent end of the world.”

This article, GOP’S False Talking Point: Jones Act Blocks Gulf Help, from McClatchy news debunks the false claims that the GOP are making about the Jones Act.

Living in my little cave in isolated Sturbridge, I had not heard of this latest attack from the GOP.  However, I am sure the other news media will start playing it up.  So forwarned is forarmed.

How can you have bipartisan efforts with people like this?

As if yesterday’s post were not enough red meat for the conspiracy theorists, there is the article Afghanistan War not close to legal; 9/11 “justifications” all lies. 1 of 2.

In this article David Ray Griffin gives a well argued case for his thesis.  Of course, well argued is not the same as true.

Just to show you how gullible I am, I read Immanuel Velikovsky‘s books and believed them (at one time). To further my disclaimer, I can say the same thing about me and Ayn Rand.

In the article The CIA/Likud Sinking of Jimmy Carter, author Robert Parry describes his theory of how the Republicans and their allies in the CIA conspired to prevent the Iranian hostages from being freed during the Carter administration.

It seemed fairly likely at the time that the Reagan campaign had conspired to defeat Carter’s negotiations with the Iranians for the release of the hostages.  This article just supplies all the details to make that supposition even more plausible.

If I had a “believe it, or not” category on this blog, I would put this story into it.

In the column The Third Depression in the New York Times, Paul Krugman again explains why government austerity measures make no sense at this time.

Since the pressures are so heavy from the people who understand little about macro economics, it is refreshing to see some reinforcement from someone who does thoroughly understand it.

There are lots of examples in the world about what happens after some policy or another is followed.  We have the recent examples of Greece and Spain who ran huge deficits.  We have the world of the 1930s who refused to run deficits.

It takes someone who understands the reasons for the consequences and who understands the actions more deeply than the headlines to know which examples apply to us at the current time. In this case, I think Paul Krugman is one of those people who have the requisite understanding.

People with little economic training do not seem to have the necessary tools to understand the current situation and the consequences of various policies.  If you don’t have the tools to analyze and understand, then your choice of policies is little better than throwing darts at the answers to a multiple-choice question.

Throwing darts has some probability of success, but I think the odds are in favor of people who know something.  There are no deeper assurances than that in the real world.

There is not much I can add to Obama Misses the Afghan Exit Ramp, the latest article by Ray McGovern.

I have heard the old saw about poker, “If you look around the table and cannot figure who the patsy is, then it is you.”

Perhaps the same is true for McChrystal’s clowns.  They looked around the table and actually thought someone else was the clown.

The Worcester T & G carried the AP story, Aid For Jobless Rejected – – GOP Blocks Plan To Extend Benefits.

Apparently the Republicans are doing everything they can to force a double dip recession so that they can win elections in November.

They thinly disguise their actions by the claim that they would cut off unemployment benefits because they are concerned over adding 0.3% to the federal debt.

Since when were our elected officials supposed to be more concerned with their own re-elections than they are about the good of the country?

Their very actions prove that they know the economy will recover if they give the Obama administration what it wants. Otherwise, they would do what the Democrats under Bush did. They gave President Bush just about everything he wanted. In the end his own poor policies are what sank him. At least the Democrats could claim they were giving the people what they seemed to have wanted when they elected George Bush.  I suppose they could also have claimed that though they thought it wouldn’t work, they were just giving Bush the chance to prove them wrong.

I wonder how many T & G readers will be able to recognize what is going on here.

Here is some email that I received.

Steven — We just launched RaiseYourVote.com, the centerpiece of our huge voter registration effort. RaiseYourVote.com isn’t just a voter registration site. It serves as a powerful clearinghouse for voter information across the country — armed with pretty much everything you need to know to cast your ballot. It even automatically personalizes to the user’s location — so when you visit the site, you’ll see voter information for your state. But the power of a site like this depends on how many voters see it. Check out RaiseYourVote.com today — and please share it with your friends. The 2008 election was a pivotal moment for our democracy. We saw 15 million people cast ballots for the first time and millions more vote for the first time in decades. These voters helped put President Obama over the top, and made the difference in tight races across the country. This site is about ensuring that we build on that same energy this year. Congressional elections are known to have lower participation than those for president, so we’re starting early with a tool that will help get more Americans involved. And, really, RaiseYourVote.com is just the online part of our unprecedented voter registration efforts already under way on the ground, which we’re ramping up with a national voter registration day of action across the country on July 17th. Casting a ballot shouldn’t be too hard or confusing for anyone — and we’re trying to make it as easy as possible for everyone to get the information they need. In fact, we even created a RaiseYourVote.com “widget” that users can install on their own blogs or websites, making it easy for people everywhere to make registering to vote as simple as possible. Please help us spread the word — send it on to three friends today: http://www.RaiseYourVote.com Thanks, Natalie Natalie Foster New Media Director P.S. — Text “RaiseYourVote” and your state abbreviation to 62262 (example: RaiseYourVote MA) to receive text-message updates on voter registration deadlines and early voting in your state. You’ll also be added to the Organizing for America mobile list to receive regular news and event information straight from OFA headquarters. Standard message and data rates apply. You may text “STOP” anytime to cancel.

Paid for by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee — 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

The article, Congress Fails to Pass an Extension of Jobless Benefits, appears in The New York Times.

It is clear to me that the Republicans still don’t understand how you get out of a recession.  Their only expertise seems to be creating bubbles whose collapse causes recessions.

They are fighting to keep the extension of jobless benefits from adding to the deficit.  When you are trying to pump prime the economy to get out of a recession, the last thing you want to do is cut back the deficit now.  I emphasize the word now. After we climb out of the recession there will be plenty of time to reduce the deficit.

Well, knowing past history, we could cut the deficit and eventually run a surplus.  When the Democrats finally accomplish this, the American voters will vote the Republicans back into office.  What will be the Republican’s winning argument?  This surplus is your money.  You know how to spend it better than the government.  Put us into office and we’ll cut taxes. Debt of $13 trillion?  What, me worry?

Now for the part of the argument the Republicans won’t give you.  The national debt is also your money.  You owe it, so pay it back.  If we cut taxes instead of decreasing the debt, there will be another huge bubble and we will start the cycle over again.  Of course we’ll think of new ways to blame Barney Frank.  You will never knowingly face the consequences of your actions.  The key word is knowingly.  The consequences of your actions will be there whether you know it or not.