~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL
As the G-20 circus brought out the whole gang in London, Hugo Chavez was doing his thing in Iran.
Chavez had this to say about the G-20 summit:
Venezuela’s Chavez: Capitalism Must End
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday ridiculed the G-20 summit’s attempts to deal with the global financial meltdown, saying that capitalism is in crisis and must end. Chavez criticized the G-20 nations’ pledges of more than a trillion dollars for lending to struggling countries at Thursday’s summit in London, calling it “the same medicine that’s killing the patient—a trillion dollars … more money for a bottomless pit.”
SNIP
The IMF and the World Bank are “tools of imperialism” and must be eliminated, Chavez said.
MORE
Well, he has a point…But does this mean that he’s no longer Obama’s “best buddy” since Obama is part of the Obama Borg?
Meanwhile, a couple of weeks ago, Chavez took steps to deal with Venezuela’s economy during this global economic crisis:
Chavez trims budget, adds debt to counter crisis
(SNIP)
Chavez, who won a referendum last month allowing him to stay in office as long as he keeps winning elections, is popular for spending oil revenues on health and education programs for the poor majority.
During 10 years in office he has nationalized much of Venezuela’s economy including major oil projects as part of his drive to build a socialist state.
On Saturday, he cut the 2009 budget by 6.7 percent to $72 billion, raised the minimum wage 20 percent and increased planned government financing to $16 billion from $5.6 billion. And he increased a sales tax to 12 percent from 9 percent.
(SNIP)
Economist Luis Vicente Leon described the package of measures as moderate but said the government was gambling crude prices would recover later this year.
“These are not truly deep measures, they don’t attack the fundamental problems of the economy,” Leon told Reuters.
Faced with Latin America’s highest inflation, Chavez has in recent weeks increased pressure on business to lower prices by taking over farms and rice mills and threatening to nationalize the country’s top private employer, which makes food and beer.
What do you think of that last part? When does Obama go after the food supply?
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The next two items courtesy Kenosha Marge:
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A couple of weeks ago we learned that Evan Bayh has put together a group of “pragmantic Democrats.” Then there are the Blue Dogs:
Centrist Dems: Dogged If They Do, Dogged If They Don’t
By Froma Harrop
There’s trouble around the Democratic campfire. The party has the White House and solid congressional majorities. But what it doesn’t have is everyone on the same page, strumming the same chords, singing the same tune.
Liberals who kept the fires burning during the long Republican reign now fear that moderate Blue Dog Democrats will thwart their much-delayed dreams. Elected from purplish parts of America, the Blue Dogs are fiscal conservatives who regard expensive new programs with a wary eye.
What’s a liberal to do? First, recognize that the Blue Dogs are the reason Democrats have such nice majorities. They are why the dreams are even on the menu. Second, concede that the Reluctant Ones have a point.
(MORE)
“The Reluctant Ones”…has a certain ring to it, yes?
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THE PAST WEEK
*By American Lassie
Saturday Sanity: The Antidote to the Madness (April 4, 2009) Spring Winds; Squirrel Wars; Bees Invade Feeder; Wounded Butterfly; Sunrise Over the Organs; Slick Lounges Around
Non-Stop Campaigning Here in NM-CD2 By Bill Richardson’s Hand-Picked Freshman Rep Harry Teague, Who’s Splitting His Votes Pro/Con on Obama Policies
Iowa Gone Wild With Nazi Reference at Public Hearing (Listen to the Audio) as New Yorkers in CD-20 Test Obama’s Popularity
Canada Follows the U.S. Terms for GM/Chrysler; Harper Still Worrying About the “Eased” ‘Buy-American’ Clause in Stimulus Package
Closing Out Women’s History Month With Dr. Mary Schweitzer, Ground-Breaking Molecular Paleontologist, and a Special T. Rex
*China, the Treasury, and Real Estate (As in the New World Trade Center); Cross-Pollination:The New America Foundation/Council of Foreign Relations
The Past Week: March 22-28, 2009 (A Split in Russian Political Forces as Putin Weakens; The Voice of Korea, North Korean Propaganda Outlet; G-20 Protests Begin; A Prescient Wish for a Bush Successor ca. 2006; X-Rated Google Earth)
Filed under: Current Politics | Tagged: "The Reluctant Ones", "stimulus package", Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Blue Dog Democrats, capitalism, Centrist Democrats, Chrysler, Council of Foreign Relations, Democratic Party, Dr. Mary Schweitzer, Evan Bayh, fiscal conservatives, Froma Harrop, G-20 meeting, GM, Hugo Chavez, IMF, International Monetary Fund, John Deere. government bailout, New America Foundation, North Korea, Rep. Harry Teague, the Obama Borg, Venezuela, World Bank |
InsightAnalytical -- Watching Our World 
Being a somewhat “Centrist” liberal I find the attempts by the Obamacrats to whip Evan Bayh and other fiscally conservative Democrats into shape scary. It’s as if unless we all fit into an exact mold then we cannot be a part of their world.
On some otherwise sane and Oblahblah loathing sites there are posts from the far left that suggest we, Centrist Libs, have no right to exist and must be put down just the the Repugs, their word, not mine.
I may change and grow from what I have become which is a left leaning moderate Independent. I used to be a moderate Democrat. I like my new persona. It’s a freedom I never knew as a partisan Democrat. I no longer find myself obliged to vote for some knucklehead just because she/he has a “D” after their name.
And if the Democratic Party wants to drive even moderate liberals into the arms of Republican Candidates, keep on attacking moderate liberals. Being attacked and ridiculed and called names caused many of us not to vote for Oblahblah. Drive away enough more and the wave of Democrats arriving in Washington D.C. will go out with the tide.
Hi All – Happy Palm Sunday to everybody.
As much as I detest Hugo Chavez, I have to agree with him about the IMF and the World Bank. They should go. Like all large central banks and funds, they only serve to empower TPTB. Keep throwing good money after bad and sticking it to the taxpayer, and too easy a target for graft and corruption.
Looks like Mr. Chavez is in power for life because any move to replace him will be met with the force of his powerful minions and crushed. He has nationalized the farms and the rice mills. Next comes the food and beer. You wouldn’t dare oppose him, or you’ll be kicked off your farm, and denied food., and heaven forbid , beer.
The Obamacrats in the Congress are bound and determined to threaten and pressure any Centist Democrat in order to get their way, but the tide may turn in 2010 because a lot of us are mounting campaigns already to VOTE THE BUMS OUT!!!!
Marge, I like your tractor. It is a good representation of the Obama Administration. No steering wheel (no direction) and no seat (no fixed policy – twisting and turning with the wind as suits his mood at any given time, as in giving in to Europe at the G20)
Truthfully, what did he come back with? Lots of humiliation for the U.S. , with his bowing and curtseying to the Muslim King and his lack of backbone at the discussions. And Michelle’s arm around the Queen. A big no-no there. These two in the White House make American seem like a bunch of Doofuses for putting them there.
IA, I ran into trouble trying to reach your other site last night – couldn’t get there. It was way past my bedtime when I tried, so maybe I’ll have better luck this morning.
Lee M…Check your email for an update!!
plz refer to HB 875 about BHO taking over the food supply. And don’t forget that eminent domain (Kelo vs New London) already rook care of your water.
http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/
http://www.leavemyfoodalone.org/
http://thomas.loc.gov/ then in the Search Bill and Summary box type in HB 875 and click on Bill number (default is Word/Phrase), Search for gory details. Direct link would not work, sorry.
Uh, Obama and Chavez were never best buddies. The biggest difference I see between the two is that Chavez wants to use the power of the state to benefit all of Venezuela, especially those who had been left out for so long, while Obama and Bush want(ed) to use the power of the state to benefit their friends.
Inflation is a problem in Venezuela. Part of the reason for the high inflation is people who didn’t have a disposable income years ago now do and want to buy stuff. This increases demand. Another reason for inflation of food prices is the market manipulation by the private corporations of basic foodstuffs. Seriously. Milk was an example. Producers simply refused to produce any because they wanted more money. The situation is actually more complex, because some items do have price controls so that people can buy food. However, the producers decided that they needed (or wanted) more money, so they simply stopped production until a price increase was passed. Don’t forget that we are not talking about thousands of little mom and pop shops or small farm production. Polar is a HUGE corporation, that I think is run by one of the “five families” of Venezuela.
Chavez has the goal of food security for Venezuela. He doesn’t want the country to be dependent on imports. One of his projects is organic gardens in urban areas. I used to buy produce at the one by the Bellas Artes metro stop in Caracas.
One of the other things he has talked about–which leads to all the outcry about nationalizing everything–is putting idle land into agricultural production.
Note the ” ” around “best buddies.” Chavez was very anti-Bush but didn’t start teeing of on Obama, I think, until Obama started acting like Bush!
Thanks for the background info on all this…
what ea said with this addition- Chavez puts Venezuela & Venezuelans 1st, not the United States. This is why the Govt doesn’t like him. Also Chavez does not own Citgo, the country of Venezuela does. When Citgo tried to give back some of its profits to the local communites where it operates, Congress had the company investigated. They did this to trash Chavez.