HeidiAllen.com

(sent today)

To Whom It May Concern:

AIG has claimed that bonuses are necessary to retain good employees. However, making employees dependent upon guaranteed bonuses provides no incentive for them to perform quality work.

Bonuses tied solely to revenue generation provide an incentive for corruption and/or a reliance on short-term thinking at the expense of long-term stability. This approach also devalues other important employee skills and contributions. All these things ultimately weaken a company.

Meanwhile, unemployment remains high. There are many educated, motivated individuals looking for work. Wouldn’t a better business model be to end bonuses and to spend some of that money on training new employees in case some current employees quit?

Sincerely,
Heidi Allen

CBS will be running an anti-abortion ad from far-right group ‘Focus on the Family‘ during the Super Bowl. This is after they made a big stink on more than one occassion over their policy of not running “controversial” ads from other, more moderate groups.

Here’s what I wrote to them. If you feel the same way, please chime in.

I don’t have a problem with Focus on the Family exercising their right to free speech during the Super Bowl SO LONG AS that same courtesy is extended to other advocacy groups. Since CBS made a big issue of not running more moderate advocacy ads, you clearly have a bias. It’s this that I strongly object to.

If you open the flood gates to one group, you must open the flood gates to all. CBS may be powerful, but never forget that it’s the American people who own the airwaves, not you.

I sent this letter to President Obama, House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid just now. If you see this in time and agree, please do the same. Feel free to use my letter as a template.

Dear __________:

When reconciling the Senate and House health bills, please favor the House bill.

As you know, the Senate bill:

* Has no public option, a critical component of any real healthcare reform.

* Would restrict access to abortion. (In states like Texas, “abstinence education” is the only sex education available. Rates of infanticide are high. Further limits on abortion access will mean the deaths of more children who have already been born.)

* Tax a worker’s health coverage to pay for reform. (Give to the right hand and take from the left hand?)

* Allow insurance companies to remain exempt from anti-trust laws.

In addition, please reconsider the requirement that all Americans would be forced to purchase health insurance. Not only is this a giveaway to the insurance industry, which has already proven itself unable to behave in an ethical manner, but it would cause widespread hardship.

For example, I doubt my household would qualify for subsidies that would help us to purchase insurance, but I can’t imagine how we could handle another bill, especially now that we’re struggling to pay off the obscene hospital charges from a recent accident.

If it’s too late to remove this requirement from the final bill, then please choose the House version over the Senate version.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Heidi Allen

My letter to the Obama-Biden transition team:

Dear President-Elect Obama,

As a Jew, I’m begging you to speak out against Israel’s insanely disproportionate response to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. While this military incursion kills and maims hundreds of innocent Palestinians, it also makes every Jew on the planet less safe…. especially Israelis. At a time when it seemed as though anti-Semitism was finally beginning to fade, the Israeli government, with their ill-considered actions, has revived it.

The Jews of Europe were forced into walled ghettos; places where they depended upon people outside for their every need. When that aid was denied, the people starved. When the ghettos were attacked, innocents died… because they had nowhere to run.

Now, Israel has created its own massive ghettos in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. The people are starving and have nowhere to run. Every Jewish child, when taught our history, is told, “Never forget.” Has the Israeli government forgotten? President Obama, please help them remember. This state of affairs does not serve the Israeli people.

The Israeli government’s actions also threaten every American. The United States is Israel’s top funder and ally. By not speaking out, you implicitly approve their actions. Please don’t let this misperception go unanswered.

I realize that there are well-funded and powerful groups like APAC defending Israel’s actions. I know that they’ll scream “Anti-Semite!” if you speak out. But most American Jews are horrified by the violence that’s unfolding. We may support the state of Israel and its right to defend itself, but we have not lost our compassion or reason.

Please don’t stand by and allow more innocents to be massacred. Remind the Israeli government that their actions impact not only the future of their own children, but that of Jews and Americans everywhere.

Sincerely,
Heidi Allen

The headlines today claim that a bailout for US automakers is imminent. I’ve just sent Speaker Nancy Pelosi the letter below:

Dear Speaker Pelosi,

The amount of bailout money being asked for by the auto industry is far in excess of their current total value on the free market. An outright purchase of these entities by the US government would be a far better deal for taxpayers than simply handing over more cash that we really don’t have.

The major US automakers have owned patents for numerous fuel-saving and fuel-free technologies since the mid-70s. Rather than use these patents, they hid them away, preferring instead to save the money they’d have to spend on retooling their manufacturing facilities. As a consequence, foreign automakers took the lead, leaving US automakers in the predictable situation that they now face.

As the owners of these companies, taxpayers could do something the CEOs won’t… We could pull those patents out of their vaults and move forward aggressively with plugin hybrid, electric and V2G vehicles. In the process, we could radically reduce our dependence on foreign oil and slow global warming.

Lastly, I find it suspicious that when universal health plans are put forward by people like Rep. Dennis Kucinich, the American people are told that there’s not enough money to fund it. When something like the Apollo Project is presented as a way to slow or even halt global warming, we’re told that there’s not enough money to fund it. When Social Security needs some shoring up to be solvent into the future, we’re old that there’s not enough money to fund it.

And yet, when Congress decides on a unilateral war, or the wealthiest people in the country say that they need a bailout after seriously mismanaging their businesses, suddenly we have the money. It’s enough to make any taxpayer sick.

If you feel you must move forward on bailouts of any kind, then I ask just one thing: Each and every one of them must have far, far more oversight, preconditions and return on investment to taxpayers than anything that Congress is currently considering.

Thank you in advance for your consideration of these suggestions.

Sincerely,
Heidi Allen

The most sane set of requirements that I’ve seen thus far for the pending corporate bailout came to me from Congressman Dennis Kucinich. I realize that the political will for most of these doesn’t exist, but even half of them would be nice.

Let your Senators and Representatives know that this is what you want. (Or edit it to MAKE it what you want.) It’s our money and (more importantly) our debt burden. WE should have a say!

1. Reinstatement of the provisions of Glass-Steagall, which forbade speculation

2. Re-regulation of the finance, insurance, and real estate industries

3. Accountability on the part of those who took the companies down:

  a) resignations of management

  b) givebacks of executive compensation packages

  c) limitations on executive compensation

 d) admission by CEO’s of what went wrong and how, prior to any government  bailout

4. Demands for transparency

  a) with respect to analyzing the transactions which took the companies down

  b) with respect to Treasury’s dealings with the companies pre and post-bailout

5. An equity position for the taxpayers

   a) some form of ownership of assets

6. Some credible formula for evaluating the price of the assets that the government is buying.

7. A sunset clause on the legislation

8. Full public disclosure by members of Congress of assets held, with possible conflicts put in blind trust.

9. A ban on political campaign contributions from officers of corporations receiving bailouts

10. A requirement that 2008 cycle candidates return political contributions to officers and representatives of corporations receiving bailouts

Thanks, Dennis!

Just a quick post regarding the nearly 1 TRILLION dollar bailout package of taxpayer money/debt that’s about to be handed out to companies that have already grossly mismanaged funds…

The affected companies have some of the world’s best financial analysts at their disposal. You can be sure that they saw this coming several years in advance. Everything that’s happening now has been well choreographed. Every word of legislation was written a long time ago.

The bottom line is this: Anytime that there’s a closed meeting intended to scare the pants off of our US senators, someone somewhere is about to score big.

We’re being told by Fox News that the Congress has just ONE DAY to act before our economy goes into total meltdown. Rushed, scared people make mistakes… BIG mistakes. Let’s not forget the Patriot Act.

I don’t doubt that we’re in a financial crisis. However, this crisis was engineered. Corporations manipulated Congress into performing less and less oversight. They then used the opportunity to engage in predatory lending practices, the bundling of junk securities and completely over-the-top speculating. And NOW they want regulation? Don’t believe it for a minute.

Meanwhile, the Bush Administration, whose members are deeply involved in corporate machinations, massively overspent on a war of choice, making us indebted to the Chinese, who bought our bonds. They got their own companies hired to (mis)manage the needs of our military and contractors, while “losing” billions of dollars in the process. They kept open a loophole that allows foreign subsidiaries of US-owned companies like Halliburton to put off paying taxes for years at a time. And in the midst of all this, they created and fought to maintain tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

You don’t need to know anything about economics to have seen that we were heading for a meltdown. We’re being played.

Now it’s coming out that the legislation under consideration (LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR TREASURY AUTHORITY TO PURCHASE MORTGAGE-RELATED ASSETS) will give Treasury Secretary Paulson nearly limitless power to use the money, without any oversight whatsoever. (In particular, see Section 5.) There’s even a clause which seems to allow for the funds to be used to bail out FOREIGN companies.

Good God, people! Just because Chicken Little says the sky is falling doesn’t mean that our Congress should rubber stamp sweeping legislation without first having a robust debate. Please contact your Senators and Representatives and demand that they look at this thing long and hard before spending YOUR money!!!

Get the phone number and tips for your call here… or just dial (202)224-3121 and ask for your Senator’s office. And thank you very much in advance!

Gas prices are obviously impacting a lot of people and businesses here in the US, but we still have it easy compared to many other countries.

In Costa Rica, gas is currently $4.72 a gallon. In the capital of San Jose, that nation’s most populous city, emergency services will be cutting back from 3 ambulances to 2, because they can’t afford the gas. Emergency calls to EMS will now be prioritized, and ambulances will only be dispatched to the most serious cases.

Taxis are no longer driving around the city looking for customers. Instead, they line up at various locations, waiting for the customers to come to them. When the taxi at the front of the line gets a fare, the rest of the drivers get out and PUSH their cars forward.

All this is going on at a time when Costa Rican president and Nobel Prize winner Oscar Arias has been caught red-handed with a 2 million dollar slush fund made up of government money. Sigh.

And what are we, the world’s biggest consumers, doing about the gas price issue? Apparently, falling for the bull that drilling in environmentally sensitive areas will bring down prices.

This simply isn’t true. See the actual Department of Energy analysis at the end of this post for the facts.

Meanwhile, when I called a senator’s office recently and asked his aide to tell the senator that I support reigning in oil market speculators, he responded, “Oh, so you want to REGULATE the free market?!!!”

“No,”, I replied. “I want to protect the free market and the American people from what the speculators are doing to them. Wouldn’t that be a less costly and faster way to deal with high gas prices?”

He spouted a bunch of talking points that supposedly “proved” me wrong. I researched them after I hung up and discovered that he didn’t have a leg to stand on.

And that’s where we’re at. Talking points versus facts. Given our recent history, don’t expect facts to win out.

US Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration
“Official Energy Statistics from the US Government”

May 2008: Analysis of Crude Oil Production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

“With respect to the world oil price impact, projected ANWR oil production constitutes between 0.4 and 1.2 percent of total world oil consumption in 2030, based on the low and high resource cases, respectively. Consequently, ANWR oil production is not projected to have a large impact on world oil prices. Relative to the AEO2008 reference case, ANWR oil production is projected to have its largest oil price reduction impacts as follows: a reduction in low-sulfur, light (LSL) crude oil¹⁸ prices of $0.41 per barrel (2006 dollars) in 2026 in the low oil resource case, $0.75 per barrel in 2025 in the mean oil resource case, and $1.44 per barrel in 2027 in the high oil resource case. Assuming that world oil markets continue to work as they do today, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could neutralize any potential price impact of ANWR oil production by reducing its oil exports by an equal amount.”

2007: Impacts of Increased Access to Oil and Natural Gas Resources in the Lower 48 Federal Outer Continental Shelf

“The projections in the OCS access case indicate that access to the Pacific, Atlantic, and eastern Gulf regions would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030. Leasing would begin no sooner than 2012, and production would not be expected to start before 2017.”

My last blog post was way back in February. I was a bit… er… angry. I remain incredulous that the undemocratic superdelegate system is still with us. However, some of my hope has been restored now that Barack Obama looks like he’ll be our next president. Send positive thoughts in his direction. (And volunteer or donate if you can afford it.)

In the meantime, I’m adding my voice to those asking superdelegates to refuse to participate in a scheme that has no place or purpose in a democracy.

I finally unsubscribed from the Democratic Party’s mailing list today. Their automated system was kind enough to ask me why, so I composed the letter below. I doubt anyone will read it, so I figured I’d post it here.

First, let me be clear that my intention is NOT to take the wind out of anyone’s sail. If you’re enthusiastlically involved in the upcoming election, maybe it’s best that you don’t read this. But if you feel let down, allow me to commiserate:

It’s bad enough that our nation still uses the undemocratic Electoral College to elect a president. The delegate system knocks underdog candidates out of the race early by arbitrarily assigning a threshold that must be met before delegates are assigned.

Then there’s the staggered primaries, which deplete all but the wealthiest campaigns long before a nominee is announced. And there’s the fact that the public owns the airwaves, but the media hasn’t been required to give candidates equal time or even focus on issues since the Fairness Doctrine was overturned in 1987.

There’s black box voting equipment, which makes every vote tally suspect. There’s endless debates in which the “frontrunners” are chosen by powerful interests well in advance of a single vote being cast, and where substantive, detailed questions on issues of importance are the exception rather than the rule.

In all these things, our Democratic majority in Congress and the DNC itself have failed utterly to affect change. But still, I tried to have hope.

Then I found out that the Texas Democratic Party, my state party, no longer makes resolutions passed at the state convention a part of their platform. Having wasted my time and money being a delegate to two state conventions, I knew that resolutions were the only hope the grassroots had of impacting party policy. Yet, when I asked party chair Boyd Richie a direct question regarding this at a “Town Hall” meeting, he declined to answer and called for the next question.

I resigned my position as precinct chair, and spoke at length to two party operatives about my reasons, but no-one really cared. Still, I tried to have hope.

Then state parties, including Texas, started knocking candidates off their ballots for reasons completely unrelated to fair elections. In doing this, they deprived voters of the right to cast a ballot for the candidate of their choice. The DNC said nothing.

The DNC itself stripped Michigan and Florida of their delegates to punish them like little children. Clearly, the delegates can’t be restored without new elections, because not all campaigns bothered to spend time and money in these states. My hope was waning, but I tried to hang on.

And then I found out about Superdelegates. How could I not have known about this this direct violation of democracy before? As it stands now, it looks like Hillary will be elected by fiat. And the DNC does nothing about this affront to voters.

I’m forced, once again, to vote AGAINST a candidate rather than FOR one. And even that pitifully miniscule little bit of voting power will be diluted by a system that prefers oligarchy to democracy. It hurts all the more knowing that Howard Dean, whose campaign was destroyed by these very same forces, (Well, ok… by the DLC. Same thing.) has apparently been absorbed into the Party groupmind.

Why should I support the Democratic Party when the party doesn’t support democracy? Sure, I’ll still support individual candidates. (That is, until the system finally manages to extinguish that last tiny ember of my belief that it even matters.) I still haven’t made a final decision as to whether or not I’ll vote for Hillary if she’s crowned. I’m thinking “no”. Maybe, if McCain wins, the Party will get a clue.

But I absolutely, positively can no longer stomach the propaganda that keeps landing in my inbox.