Are the protests spreading across the U.S. the sign of an 'American Spring'?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Today is the 20th day of protests down on Wall Street ... and the movement is picking up steam all across the country.
The demonstrators are critical of the growing economic gap in the United States. They say they take their inspiration from the "Arab Spring" protests that overthrew governments and dictators and continue to cause massive chaos across the Middle East and North Africa.
But in the beginning, barely anyone even noticed. There were a few hundred people with signs, peacefully walking around Manhattan's Financial District, talking about corporate greed and inequality.
And when they were finally noticed, they weren't taken seriously. Reporters made fun of them, saying they didn't even know what they protesting about.
Well, now the unions are joining in and supporting them, and the crowds are suddenly starting to look like this. There were thousands of protesters in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday. There have been hundreds of arrests.
And it's not just New York. Protesters are beginning to take to the streets nationwide, including in Los Angeles; Boston; San Francisco; Denver; Chicago; Seattle; Spokane, Washington; Philadelphia; Houston; Dallas; Tampa; St. Louis; Savannah, Georgia; Hartford, Connecticut; and Washington.
This isn't a joke, and the media would be well advised to take them seriously. Their grievances are real, their numbers are growing, and the rest of us would be well advised to pay attention.
So far, these protests have been peaceful, for the most part. So far. But the more they spread and grow, the bigger a problem it becomes for Washington.
Our federal government should take note. Protests over economic conditions and government cutbacks have turned violent elsewhere in the world. People will only take so much.
Here’s my question to you: Are the protests spreading across the U.S. the sign of an "American Spring"?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
What does it mean when British & French govts work harder than America’s?
Cabinet members leave 10 Downing Street this morning following British PM David Cameron's meeting to discuss the unrest that has spread across the UK. Parliament was recalled following four days of rioting. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
As the global economy hangs on by a thread, maybe our leaders should take some notes from the British and the French.
In England - Prime Minister David Cameron cut his vacation short and called Parliament back from theirs to hold a special session today. They're dealing with the worst rioting and violence that country has seen in decades; and there's no doubt economic instability and high unemployment are partly to blame.
Meanwhile French President Nicolas Sarkozy returned to Paris from the Riviera to deal with France's own financial crisis. Bank shares are plunging there; and he's pledged drastic austerity measures. He's even recalled the French parliament from their vacation to vote on a balanced budget amendment to their constitution.
Hop over the pond here to the U.S. ... where our Congress is on vacation for five weeks; and President Obama is headed off on his own vacation to Martha's Vineyard.
The only thing of any consequence that Congress has done in the last month or so was to fail to stave off the first credit downgrade in our history. And once they finished that - they couldn't get out of town fast enough. No wonder they have a measly approval rating of 14%.
Meanwhile President Obama's own approval ratings are at or very near all-time lows as he gets ready to try to convince the country he deserves a second term. The White House was out defending Mr. Obama of course, saying presidents are never really on vacation and that they take their work with them.
Nonetheless it's all about appearances. Our president and Congress choose to go on vacation while our country struggles under an economy perhaps lurching toward another recession and a debt crisis no one has been very serious about solving.
How dare the people think the government is disconnected from reality.
Here’s my question to you: What does it mean when the British and especially the French governments work harder than America's?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 5pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
Faith in "super committee" to fix debt woes?
The National Debt Clock, a billboard-sized digital display showing increasing U.S. debt, as seen August 1, 2011 in New York City. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The saying goes "where there's a will there's a way"... but it's not clear if our leaders have the political will - or the backbone - to fix the country's serious debt troubles.
We'll find out soon enough when the so-called super committee gets to work. We're starting to learn who will make up this powerful group... including John Kerry on the Democratic side and John Kyl for the Republicans. Their job is to cut the deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
To do that, they must take on the issues of tax increases and entitlement cuts. So far, Congress has refused to touch either issue - even though the country is insolvent and now has had its credit rating downgraded for the first time in our history.
With an election coming up next year, what makes anyone think they will suddenly make the tough decisions now?
Consider Washington's track record on the issue of deficit reduction:
Last year, President Obama named a bipartisan debt commission - which had a lot of this stuff in it. The proposals came out after the midterms, and were ignored. Then there was the gang of six in the Senate which also recommended tax reform and changing entitlement programs. That went nowhere, too. The last time there was a significant drop in federal government spending was 1954. This is all cheap political theater.
A new CNN/ORC International poll shows 63% of Americans want the committee to recommend higher taxes for the wealthy and business. 57% say the proposal should also include major cuts in domestic spending.
But majorities of those polled don't want major changes to social security and medicare... or tax increases on the middle class and poor.
It's the "have your cake and eat it" syndrome.
Here’s my question to you: How much faith do you have in the "super committee" to fix our debt woes?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Is U.S. economic leadership at an end
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
There's a saying that "When America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold."
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And that's why the ripple effect of the debt ceiling crisis in Washington reaches far beyond our borders.
The whole world has been watching - and worrying - as Congress carried on like children the past few weeks, threatening to send the U.S. into default.
A piece in The Daily Beast suggests that the debt ceiling debate was "the most disturbing sign to date that a global economic system that hinges on the United States is a system waiting to crash."
A growing number of experts suggest it's past time to come up with an alternative to the dollar and to U.S. Treasuries in the global market.
One of the first signs that America's economic leadership was unraveling came with the financial meltdown of 2008. And since then, the situation has only become more dire.
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is accusing the U.S. of living beyond its means "like a parasite" on the global economy.
Putin says if there's a "systemic malfunction" in the U.S., it will affect everyone. And he's right about that.
So it's no surprise everyone from Saudi Arabia to China to Canada has questioned the antics in Washington surrounding the debt ceiling.
And - even though President Obama has now signed the debt bill into law raising our borrowing limit, there are still jitters in international markets that the U.S. credit rating could be downgraded.
For countries that hold billions - or trillions - of dollars of U.S. Treasuries that's not good news.
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
What's your view of the current state of the U.S. economy?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The general feeling about the economy in this country hasn't been great for a long time. And the stalemate on Capitol Hill over raising the debt ceiling has only made Americans more nervous... not just about the current state of their own households but about the future of the U.S. economy as a whole.
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Unemployment's stuck at 9.2% and probably not improving much anytime soon. With all the uncertainty surrounding the debt ceiling, companies aren't exactly rushing to ramp up hiring. "Wait and see" is the prevailing game plan. Uncertainty is business investment's worst enemy.
Home prices are down 4.5% from one year ago. The housing crisis may not be over for several years. Bad news for a seller sometimes means good news for a buyer - but not right now. Even if you're lucky enough to get a mortgage, rates are going to be headed up - and if the U.S. defaults on its debt obligations, that will happen pretty fast.
Oh and your investments? If lawmakers don't raise the debt ceiling and the U.S. defaults on its payments for the first time in history, stocks could drop 30% over the following six months to a year. This is according to a new report from Credit Suisse.
Polls have shown Americans have been growing increasingly concerned with the economy, and the number of Americans feeling this way has been on the rise over the last few weeks. Nearly 3/4 of Americans in Gallup's Daily tracking poll say the U.S. economy is getting worse. That's up 11 percentage points since July 6. In a separate CNN-ORC poll, nearly six in 10 Americans now say that the economy will be in poor shape a year from now.
And in Washington the pathetic games continue.
Here’s my question to you: What's your view of the current state of the U.S. economy?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
GE moving X-ray business to China. What message is sent to U.S.?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Here is more evidence of the suicide mission this country is on: General Electric announced it's moving its 115-year-old X-ray business from Waukesha, Wisconsin to Beijing, China.
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The X-ray business is part of General Electric's GE Healthcare unit, and this move is just part of a broader plan by GE to invest $2 billion in China.
This will become the first GE business to be headquartered there. A handful of the unit's top executives will be transferred to China but otherwise, the company says, none of the 150 staffers in the Milwaukee-area facility will lose jobs or be transferred. However, GE plans to hire more than 65 engineers and a support staff at a new facility in China.
It's the kind of news that makes you want to reach for something sharp and jab it in your eye. General Electric's Chief Executive, Jeffrey Immelt, is one of President Obama's advisers on… ready? U.S. job creation!
In January, President Obama asked Immelt, a self-described Republican, to head up the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. Tapping Immelt was supposed to provide the Obama administration with a business world perspective on job creation - not in China - here.
The administration also hoped it would give the president a leg up negotiating with the Republican-controlled House on deficit reduction, jobs programs, and health care. And we can all see how that's worked out really well.
Two months after Immelt was named to the council, The New York Times reported that General Electric paid no income taxes last year... thanks to some fancy accounting footwork, even though the company earned $14.2 billion in profits last year - more than $5 billion in the U.S. alone.
Here’s my question to you: General Electric is moving its X-ray business to China. What message does this send Americans?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Politically, who stands to win or lose most in debt ceiling Russian roulette?
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's signature, as seen on a new $20 bill. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
With all the ugliness surrounding the debt ceiling debate and no end to it in sight, it's hard to see how anyone can come out of this mess on top. But politics are politics. And while it's a high-stakes game, and no one knows the outcome, there will be a huge price to pay for someone.
President Obama's re-election hangs in the balance of course, and he's all too aware of it. He wants a deal desperately, but his plans have fallen flat and he's been unable to accomplish any great compromise between the two parties.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has blamed President Obama's fixation on the 2012 election for holding up a deal. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said in an interview yesterday that the president's objective was to take the threat of default off the table through the election. That's pretty telling.
But it's not just the president who is worried about his future. Incumbent seats in both houses of Congress are in jeopardy; and as a result, so are the Democratic control of Senate and the Republican control of the House. There's a lot at stake today; and a lot at stake down the road. And the average American citizen doesn't even have a seat at the table in this debate.
Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein says so far the Republicans are winning because the debt ceiling can't be raised without their support but, he points out, that according to polls, they don't have popular support behind their position. Members of the Tea Party aren't budging on their promises of deep spending cuts and no new taxes. And that's preventing Republican leaders from compromising on a deal.
Democrats in the meantime are playing defense, hoping to strike a deal that avoids an economic disaster and doesn't rock the political boat too much. But with the clock ticking and the world watching, that's not likely to happen.
Here’s my question to you: Politically, who stands to win or lose most in debt ceiling Russian roulette?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 5pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
Are America's best days behind it?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
While lawmakers continue to play games with the debt ceiling deadline, millions of people's lives are being affected. The clock is ticking …
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Republican congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul thinks time may have already run out. On the floor of the House last week, Paul said, "When a country is indebted to the degree that we're indebted, the country always defaults. We will default because the debt is unsustainable."
Meanwhile, we’ve got no deal as our politicians continue to appear they have lost sight of what they were elected to do in the first place. They argue. They grandstand. They posture. All with an eye on whether they will be re-elected. But nothing is decided. What they're really good at is what matters to them.
On Sunday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi left the debt ceiling negotiations in Washington to attend a fundraiser in Connecticut for a friend and fellow congresswoman who is up for re-election next fall. When asked about her decision to choose a fundraiser over the debt ceiling, Pelosi said, "Sunday morning is sort of a time out."
Really?
There is a general sense of pessimism in this country right now, and it's not just our nation's debt. We are in deep trouble. The economy is gasping for air, millions are out of work and the future of a once proud and thriving middle class is sinking into quicksand. While Washington may be out of touch, we are well aware how bad things are.
According to a new CNN/ORC poll, 84% of Americans say the economy is in poor shape and 59% believe the economy will still be in poor shape one year from now. This is the 14th year CNN has asked this question; this is the first time a majority has been pessimistic about the country's economic future.
Here’s my question to you: Are America's best days behind it?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 6pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
Should calling for the assassination of the president be protected as free speech?
(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
An appeals court in California has overturned a man's two convictions for threatening to assassinate President Obama. The grounds? Freedom of speech.
In 2008, two weeks before Barack Obama was elected the first black president in this nation's history, a California man posted violent, racist messages about Obama on an online message board: One posting said, "Shoot the ____" using a racial slur to describe Obama. Another post said Obama would end up with a "50 cal in the head soon."
The Secret Service tracked down this individual as you might imagine - a guy named Walter Bagdasarian - within weeks. He had a .50-caliber rifle and five other guns and ammunition in his possession when they found him. He was arrested, and after waiving his right to a jury trial, Bagdasarian was convicted by a federal judge of two felonies for threatening to kill a presidential candidate.
But Wednesday, a court of appeals in - wait for it - San Francisco overturned that decision.
In a 2-to-1 ruling, the court said his actions were protected by the First Amendment and that while his words were "alarming and dangerous," they were not illegal. The court also said Bagdasarian expressed no intent to act on his words himself.
Prosecutors can now ask the appeals court for a rehearing or appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
After Bagdasarian was initially convicted in 2009, he apologized for his actions and said he had posted the messages while drunk. Apparently in his mind that made it OK. He was sentenced to two months in a halfway house in addition to the 24 days he had already served in jail.
Here’s my question to you: Should calling for the assassination of the president be protected as free speech?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
What does it mean that federal workers are more likely to die than lose their jobs?
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski speaks at FCC headquarters in Washington, DC. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
In an economy with 9.2% unemployment, job security is hard to come by. That is unless you work for the federal government.
An analysis by USA Today found the job security rate for government employees at many federal agencies last year was more than 99%. And these workers are more likely to die than to lose their jobs to a layoff or firing. The federal government only fired about one half of a percent of its workforce last year. The private sector in contrast fires about 3% of workers annually for performance.
Just to give you a few examples: At the Small Business Administration, which employs about 4,000, six people were fired last year but there were no layoffs. Seventeen employees died. Not a single federal attorney was laid off last year - there are about 35,000 of them. Just 27 were fired, 33 died. At both the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission, not a single employee was fired or laid off last year.
The USA Today analysis also found that nearly 3 out of 5 firings among federal workers occur within the first two years on the job, most commonly to the lowest paid workers. Meanwhile, the nearly half-million federal employees earning $100,000 a year or more had a job security rate of more than 99.8%. Nice work if you can get it.
Here’s my question to you: What does it mean that federal workers are more likely to die than lose their jobs?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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