In The News: Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the news and commentary audio files. » Little has changed in the deadlock over the federal debt limit. Senator Boehner's bill was found by the OMB to be low-balled by about a half trillion dollars and pulled from the floor for a re-write. If it doesn't get to the floor by tomorrow he might have a hard time getting it on the agenda for next Tuesday. From CQ Roll Call:

The green eyeshades at CBO are proving their nonpartisan bona fides again today. This morning they announced that the Reid plan would save $2.2 trillion during the next decade — fully $1.3 trillion more than the Boehner plan. It’s not exactly as much or in the same way as the Senate majority leader has said he was after — but, crucially, the official budget scorekeepers said it was fair for Reid to claim 45 percent of the projected savings from the winding down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Republicans, even though they made the same claim in some of their own proposals, had derided that as a gimmick.) The CBO also said Reid would save $840 billion in other spending by government agencies and would reduce interest payments by $375 billion over a decade. The announcement comes on the heels of what Boehner should view as a big favor from the CBO. Although the agency’s headline sounded bad — the Speaker’s plan wouldn’t save as much as he said it would ($850 billion vs. $1.2 trillion) — the announcement was politically and tactically good news for the House GOP leadership, because it masked the enormous difficulty they are having in gathering the votes needed to pass their legislation. The CBO scoring also gave Boehner the excuse he needed to go back to the legislative drafting board and “fix” his plan — probably so that it does more to appease conservatives, who complain it would take too small a first bite out of discretionary federal programs. Two influential conservative groups , the Club for Growth and the Heritage Foundation’s political arm, opposed the first Boehner plan and are unlikely to be brought around after he unveils his changes, which is planned for this afternoon. But the Chamber of Commerce is urging a “yes” vote. [In Full]

» In the House, fifty six year old congressman Wu of Portland Oregon with fourteen years in congress has become the second Democratic congressman to resign. In this case over accusations of having pressured an eighteen year old girl into having sex with him. He planned to stay in the House but resigned when Nancy Pelosi threatened an ethics committee investigation. Wu will most likely be replaced by another progressive Democrat, as Portland, at least the city, has the political tenor of Berkley in the sixties. » In Afghanistan recently the brother of president Hamid Karzai, Walid, who was an Opium warlord and boss of the gangster element of Kandahar was assassinated, then the local religious leader was killed the next day at his funeral. Last night someone called on the mayor... and blew him up... leaving no power structure in place in Kandahar except of course for the US military power structure and the Talib. In Kandahar and Helmand provinces the Taliban has been pretty much attacking at will over the course of this year's fighting season. » Partition coming up... With the Libyan government still in control of most of the country the British government has decided to recognize the CIA army led "Transitional Government" of Libya, allowing for the looting of Libya's British investments which will be turned over undoubtedly to the Benghazi 'government'... Except of course, Britain's expenses in pursuing this glaring war-in-violation of the UN resolution on protection of Libyan citizens, which said nothing about partition, or regime change, and DID REQUIRE the protection of ALL Libyan civilians. (CNN Video - NATO Bombing Destroys Hospital, Food Storage In Zletin Killing 11 Civilians - July 25 2011) » California governor Jerry Brown has arranged for loans to the state to cover the possibility that the federal government may not pay their disbursement on August 2 due to the debt ceiling talks possibly being unresolved. In OTHER News: Something this California county was actually PROUD OF until recently... Exhorbitant rents with no housing plan for the lower paid workers who actually work in the area, as opposed to the over-the-hill commuters, and the elimination-by-regulation (environmental regulation typically even though there have never been dirty industries here) or non-replacement of almost all light industrial job... replaced by facework jobs suited for... UC students... Who have ended up working in stores that pay near minimum wage, selling things to each other:

“There is great difficulty finding jobs at the bottom of the employment ladder,” Goeke said. “People with skills and degrees are competing for the entry-level jobs. It's very hard to get jobs.” In addition to the county's 11.5 percent unemployment rate, the price of monthly rents are among the highest in the nation. In the county, a full-time worker must earn $33.27 per hour to afford a modest two-bedroom rental,

Santa Cruz Sentinel County's homeless population soars 22 percent in two years By SHANNA MCCORD 07/26/2011 Image: Homeless people gather in a part of San Lorenzo Park (ed. where they are harrassed regularly by the police) on Tuesday. SANTA CRUZ — Fueled largely by the sour economy and expensive rents, the homeless population in Santa Cruz County has soared 22 percent in two years. The number of people without homes is estimated at 2,771, according to a count conducted in January by the United Way of Santa Cruz County and the nonprofit research firm Applied Survey Research of Watsonville. The homeless tally in 2009, the last time a census was taken, was 2,265. The 2011 Santa Cruz County Homeless Census and Survey report will be released at 10 a.m. today at a public meeting at Twin Lakes Church in Aptos. Most alarming for researchers studying the community's homeless was the jump in number of people under age 25 living on the streets, and the number of people experiencing homelessness for the first time, which increased 40 percent in two years. [In Full]

Note that due to the fact this census was done during the winter, the figure for homeless youths is INCREDIBLY low-balled if one counts the roadie kids passing through town, with many staying, some having been here before while living with their parents who typically were on a nationwide quest for high paying work in the computer industry, leaving a legacy of "Corporate Kids" returning to the area when they finally move out of the family home which ended up being 'elsewhere'. They are not the high-earners their parents were. Either due to lack of opportunity, or perhaps they see the end of their parent's and America's middle class lifestyle looming and have 'opted-out'. Some postings in Chronological order by Auntie Imperial, my partner in crime, and myself, on the topic of Santa Cruz California, and it's treatment of it's workers, and the homeless, which many of the aforementioned now are... Friday, June 12, 2009 Local News For 95060 - Santa Cruz County California (Specifically Watsonville) Is #1 For Highest Unemployment In Northern California Saturday, February 13, 2010 Enquiring Minds: Why are there so many homeless working class and working poor people in Santa Cruz California? Saturday, December 25, 2010 "Sorry... Two Words" (That Describe How Corrupt A Local Government Official Can Be) - Santa Cruz California Edition Wednesday May 11 2011 A Barren Place: Santa Cruz California Bookstore Replaced By Police Substation Saturday, June 11, 2011 Santa Cruz California Lawyer Ed Frey & Houseless Defendant Imprisoned Six Months For Sleep Protest This is Razer Raygun saying 'Happy Motoring America...' Enjoy it while you can. Remember... They only call it class war when you fight back (And PLEASE try to keep your government from killing all the dusky natives...) -30-
Creative Commons Copyright Courtesy of Cabale News Service, KPIG Radio, and KVMR Radio. Listen to KVMR Recorded & transcribed by Razer Raygun @ Razed By Wolves Postings Auntie Imperial and Razer Raygun Have Done Lately Are [Here] The Consolidated Items Listing in RSS format [Here] Travus T. Hipp Fan Page @ Facebook (unaffiliated) In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, the news clippings, audio, and images used in this posting are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.

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