. March 10, 2007 SouthAmerica: The enclosed article said: âThe president repeated his assertion that he has doubled direct foreign assistance to Latin America to $1.6 billion since 2001, without mentioning that his latest budget actually proposes cutting that aid to $1.47 billion. Moreover, analysts question his math, saying he is using a false comparison to exaggerate increases in aid.â In my opinion, George W. Bush can stick up his ass the $1.6 billion of foreign aid that the United States gives every year mostly to Colombia in the form of tanks, machine guns, helicopter-gunships, bombs, grenades, and all kinds of poisons to spray from the air to make farmers and their families very sick with cancer, and also to destroy their food crops. Who needs friends and aid like that? South America would be better off without this kind of aid from the United States. The article also said: âBush on Friday refused to discuss Lula's desire to reduce a 54 percent tariff on imported Brazilian sugar-cane ethanol, which protects domestic corn-based ethanol producers.â This 54 percent tariff on sugar cane ethanol - eventually it becomes a tax on American consumers. ************ âU.S., Brazil Team Up To Promote Ethanolâ For Bush, a Key Step in Boosting Regional Ties By Peter Baker Washington Post Staff Writer The Washington Post Saturday, March 10, 2007; Page A12 SAO PAULO, Brazil, March 9 -- President Bush announced a new energy partnership with Brazil on Friday to promote wider production of ethanol throughout the region as an alternative to oil, the first step in an effort to strengthen economic and political alliances in Latin America. The agreement, reached as Bush kicked off a six-day tour of the region, was crafted to expand research, share technology, stimulate new investment and develop common international standards for biofuels. The United States and Brazil, which make 70 percent of the world's ethanol, will team up to encourage other nations to produce and consume alternative fuels, starting in Central America and the Caribbean. The new alliance could serve not only to help meet Bush's promise to reduce U.S. gasoline consumption but also to diminish the influence of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the fiery leftist who has used his country's vast oil reserves to build support among neighbors. Analysts have called it the beginning of a new OPEC-style cartel for ethanol makers, a characterization U.S. officials dispute because they say they want to expand, not control, production. "It's in the interest of the United States that there be a prosperous neighborhood," Bush said during a hard-hat tour of a fuel depot here with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. "And one way to help spread prosperity in Central America is for them to become energy producers, not become -- not remain dependent on others for their energy sources." Lula, pointing to economic and environmental benefits of ethanol, said the alliance marks "a new moment for the global car industry, a new moment for fuel in general in the world and possibly a new moment for humanity." But ethanol politics are complicated at home and abroad. Under pressure from farm-state lawmakers in the United States, Bush on Friday refused to discuss Lula's desire to reduce a 54 percent tariff on imported Brazilian sugar-cane ethanol, which protects domestic corn-based ethanol producers. That led to charges of double standards, given the Bush administration's longtime advocacy of free trade. The emphasis on ethanol has also drawn criticism from environmentalists and others who complain that it will create more problems. Because the United States makes ethanol from corn, it has already caused price increases, for example, for tortillas in Mexico. Brazil makes ethanol from sugar cane, and critics say increased production would result in further deforestation of the Amazon. Greenpeace issued a statement saying that limits on carbon emissions, which Bush opposes, would be a better way to reduce greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. "The U.S. government must take a giant leap forward quickly in order to make the necessary steps to combat global warming," said John Coequyt, an energy specialist with Greenpeace. "An aggressive focus on ethanol, without a federally mandated cap on emissions, is simply a leap sideways." Some specialists, though, said the deal could have a significant impact on energy. "This is the first effort to jump-start a Western Hemisphere ethanol market, involving both trade and local development, which would reduce the pressure of high oil prices on the balance of payments of countries in the region," said Dan Yergin of Cambridge Energy Research Associates. "It also represents the fact that Brazil is moving to the fore as an energy leader, along with Venezuela, in the region." But analysts expressed skepticism that Bush would be able to wean Latin Americans away from Chávez. "Bush may be aiming at Chávez with his 'ethanol diplomacy,' but Lula clearly is not," said Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. "He is happy to have good commercial relations with the United States and expand these in any area, but he has made it clear that he is not going to downgrade his good relations with Venezuela." The ethanol pact came as Bush sought to renew U.S. commitments to a region estranged from the United States. The president appeared irritated when a Brazilian journalist asked during a brief news conference what he was doing to "make up for the losses" in relations with the region. "I strongly disagree with your description of U.S. foreign policy," Bush replied. "That may be what people say, but it's certainly not what the facts bear out." The president repeated his assertion that he has doubled direct foreign assistance to Latin America to $1.6 billion since 2001, without mentioning that his latest budget actually proposes cutting that aid to $1.47 billion. Moreover, analysts question his math, saying he is using a false comparison to exaggerate increases in aid. Rogerio Schmitt, a political analyst here, said Lula hoped to use the meeting with Bush to project himself as an alternative to Chávez, able to enter partnerships with leaders of all ideological leanings. Whether the United States would equally benefit by being seen as an alternative to Chávez is another matter, he said. "Most people in Brazil see Chávez as a lunatic, a fool," Schmitt said. "But his popularity here is still probably higher than President Bush's." The ethanol alliance follows Bush's pledge to reduce the projected use of gasoline in the United States by 20 percent over the next 10 years. Brazil, a pioneer in biofuel technology since the 1970s, has become the world's largest exporter of ethanol and reinvented its own economy as a result. About 40 percent of Brazil's non-diesel gasoline consumption has been replaced by ethanol, and more than 70 percent of the cars and trucks now sold in Brazil are flex-fuel vehicles that consume either gasoline or ethanol. The effects of that economic transformation can be seen on the streets of this city, where all service stations sell ethanol and gasoline. At a typical station, ethanol is about $3 a gallon compared with about $5 a gallon for gas. Correspondent Monte Reel in Buenos Aires contributed to this report. .
"The U.S. economy is thriving. For rich and poor alike. I don't give a shit what the statistics say." I don't need to see no stinking facts to know what the U.S. economy is like...I don't care that crime is up, I don't care that personal debt is up, I don't care that bankruptcy is up, I don't care that personal savings are down, I don't care that real inflation is rising faster than wages, I don't care that people's credit cards are maxed out, I don't care about the price of gasoline, I don't care about statistics that say poverty is increasing...all I care is that I have a nice safe place to stick my head. <img src=http://members.cox.net/stockdevil/Ostrich%20Animated.gif>
Compared to past periods in modern times i.e. 2001/02 let alone 89/91 this is boom town. America's lack of moral compass is not caused by economics. I'd bet most maxed out credit cards saw those resources used on quasi luxury stuff rather than essentials. Television and Madison avenue had led American's to believe that "just getting by" is tantamount to third world poverty. In the depression would folks have snubbed their nose at working in a Taco Bell? Immigrants gladly work jobs that modern American's find demeaning. Can any of us imagine folks these days riding horses a few thousand miles without electricity and setting up homesteads? Only if Mark Burnett were to hand out a million bucks at the end of the show. The American consumer, with his penchant for cheap foreign goods, from auto's to electronics to apparel, has sold out his manufacturing employed neighbor. Often these glutinous consumers are white collar folks who smugly thought that their professional service jobs, unlike those of uneducated Joe Sixpack, were immune from global competition. Think again. Gasoline Z? Are you serious? It's cost has risen less than inflation. Take away taxes and it's firmly under 2 bucks a gallon. The fact that American's even bemoan the price of gas shows how far we've fallen. "Ooh gee wiz it's costing me extra to make needless trips to the mall where I buy Chinese goods in my polluting Asian/Euro built machine. Next thing you know I might actually have to use public transportation." Fuck gas prices. People better worry about food prices. Prioritize dude. Get something straight. There were never glory days. We've started wars every generation that have cost millions their lives in order to keep this cog going. If American's think political solutions are the answer then it's they who have their heads in the sand.
"The U.S. economy is thriving. For rich and poor alike. I don't give a shit what the statistics say." Frankly speaking, you are just flat out wrong. Oh, I can believe you don't care what the statistics say, or about the poor, or about anyone else but your self... "Let them eat pork rinds."
Oh, I can believe you don't care what the statistics say, or about the poor, or about anyone else but your self... Pabst why can't you care more about those poor like the rest of us here??
To: Don't confuse me with the facts. You are flat out wrong about americans not wanting to work. In 1980 I was working part time as a carpenters helper on a framing crew and making $6.00 an hour. Today in the same town a young man with little experience going by the job site can still get 6 to 7 bucks an hour to start. Don't believe it come on down I'll hook you up with some framing contractors. I know this is just one isolated example but it's true. You got it ass backwards, it's because the illegals have drove the price so artifically low is the reason that americans don't want those jobs it isn't because they don't want to work. Get rid of the cheap illegal labor and the wages will rise and then you will see people hustling after those higher paying labor jobs. It's simple supply and demand.
. March 12, 2007 SouthAmerica: George W. Bushâs trip to South America has been a complete disaster by any reasonable measure, and it did highlight for the entire world to see it: the âanti-Bushâ sentiment in that part of the world. But in my opinion, most Americans should not worry or take Bushâs trip too seriously, because the current situation in South America can change very quickly in November of 2008. When Al Gore is elected US president in November 2008 â he will be able to fix some of the damage related to George Bushâs foreign policy disaster towards South America. Al Gore â the environmentalist, and Nobel Peace Prize winner - will be received with open arms in South America. Besides Al Gore will surround himself with a group of competent people in the same way Bill Clinton did during his 8 years as president of the USA. We all have to wait for the "incompetent-idiots" to leave town. Until then âScrewâ the Bush administration. .
They will leave town and take up residence in Dubai... now that their boy dickie is setting up shop there.