9/11 Health and Compensation Act Voted Down in House

On September 11, 2001 the entire world fundamentally changed. For the majority of us the changes were macro in nature - from fear and confusion to small things like inconveniences at the airport and increased police presence in transit hubs. For a small, but significant, number of Americans the repercussions from the 9/11 attacks were, and continue to be, extremely personal. Over 2,800 people died that day. The two wars that have resulted from the cowardly attacks have seen over 5,600 military fatalities - 4,413 from Operation Iraqi Freedom and 1,212 from Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan). These numbers do not reflect the other Americans who have been personally touched by 9/11 - friends and family members of those killed in lower Manhattan that day and those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, those wounded on September 11 and in Iraq and Afghanistan, and those otherwise affected by that day and its repercussions.

Unfortunately there is nothing the government can do for those who have already given their lives for this country. There is, however, very much that the government can do to those who continue to be plagued by illnesses caused by the toxic debris and dust that encased lower Manhattan following the falling of the Twin Towers. This week the House of Representatives had the chance to make the first move to do the right thing - to provide aid to rescue workers and Manhattan residents suffering from the after-effects of 9/11. Unfortunately, like everything in Washington, this is political. The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 (H.R. 847) meant to offer up to $7.4 billion in aid to these folks was voted down along party lines.

In a world where the U.S. government threw $2.25 trillion at the financial industry without so much as blinking, it is appalling and disheartening to see a measure that would provide 0.33% of that amount to those who, through no fault of their own (which cannot be said of finance bailouts), have suffered due to attacks that struck the core of this country. It is, in a word, disgusting.

As I mentioned earlier, the vote was along party lines. 159 Representatives voted against the measure; 155 of those nays were Republicans. Now blame can also be placed on Democrats for using rules that required a 2/3 majority vote that would avoid any amendments to the bill (the final vote was 255-159.) But to be honest, I don't care if you needed a 9/10 majority vote, this bill should overwhelmingly pass. This speaks to the Republican strategy of, as the party's chairman Michael Steele has said, being "the cow on the tracks" and simply being obstructionist. In another example of this, Republicans in the Senate unanimously voted against a bill that would aid small business through, of all things, tax breaks. With midterm elections coming up, Republicans do not want any legislative victories that could be attributed to majority Democrats, no matter how beneficial to their constituents.

If there is one thing that we as Americans ought to be able to rally behind without political considerations it is that a) 9/11 was an national tragedy and b) those personally affected by this tragedy deserve any and all help the government can offer them. To politicize 9/11 yet again (unfortunately, this is not unprecedented) simply shows the utter lack of leadership abilities by those in Washington in an era of American history that desperately needs unequivocal leaders to guide us through these uncharted waters.

Photo - Reps. (l-r) Pallone, Jr., Maloney (co-sponsor), Nadler (co-sponsor) showing support for H.R. 847 (The Epoch Times)

Revere High Video from Night of Officer Daniel Talbot's Murder Released

Today the Daily Item in Lynn, Massachusetts has posted the footage of the parking lot of Revere High the night of Revere Police Officer Daniel Talbot's murder. The footage is grainy and does not capture the actual shooting of Officer Talbot. The only figures in the video are unidentifiable to the naked eye, but the Suffolk DA says that they are Derek Lodie (sentenced to 8-12 years for accessory before the fact), James Heang (sentenced 3-6 years for unlawful possession of a firearm), Thomas Papandrea (believed to be in the witness protection program), and Robert Iacoviello (the triggerman sentenced to three years for gun possession and life for the murder with possibility of parole after 15 years). The majority of relevant footage shows first responders arriving on the scene.

On the delay from the end of Iacoviello's trial (which concluded in February), the Suffolk DA's spokesman Jake Wark tells The Second Age, "Our copy of the video actually went into evidence at Suffolk Superior Court, where it was played at trial (and remains) for anyone who wished to see it.  Surprisingly, no one who had previously requested a copy actually showed up to view it.  Once the trial was complete, it took some time to obtain the archived original, duplicate it, and resolve the pending issues with the Item."

A Possible Silver Lining Under an Infinite Cloud of Climate Bullshit

On Saturday I ranted furiously against the Senate for its arrant failure to even bring climate legislation to the floor. Grist has a telling article on why the failure occurred. I'll write more on the abomination that is the United States Senate in the coming weeks. But lest I hurl myself and others into an endless spiral of pessimism and cynicism, let's talk for a minute about what hope there is left for potentially doing something about climate change mitigation.

The key word here: EPA. No one wanted it to happen. No one thought it was a good idea to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. It was leverage. It was a way to say to the Senate, "Get your act together, or we'll do this the bad way." Maybe the Senate called the Executive's bluff. Or maybe the Senate is just a largely worthless, undemocratic institution. But either way, they didn't come up with anything, so Clean Air Act it is.

Sean Bell Settlement Reached for $7 Million of Taxpayer Money

The family and friends of Sean Bell will receive more than $7 million from the city stemming from the shooting of Bell and his two friends, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield. The settlement is a large one, but it doesn't beat out the settlement reached last month in the case of Barry Gibbs, a man who spent 19 years behind bars after being framed by an NYPD detective for murder. Gibbs will receive $9.9 million from the city.

So who pays the $17 million for police malfeasance? You and I do, of course. Despite the fact that we know who pulled the triggers that killed Bell and injured his friends - Marc Cooper, Gescard Isnora (who fired the first shot), and Michael Oliver (who fired 31 shots, requiring a magazine change) - none of these men will be contributing to the $7 million settlement. This is also not the first time Michael Oliver has cost the city more money than he's worth: in 1995 Oliver shoved a livery cab driver's head into a car window, resulting in a $10,000 settlement to the victim. Somehow Oliver kept his job so he could later cost the city even more money in the Bell case.

WikiLeaks Documents Shed More Light on Afghanistan War

The revelation of newly released classified documents from WikiLeaks about the Afghanistan War has prompted the New York Times headline, "View is Bleaker Than Official Portrayal of War in Afghanistan."This is true, but the real question I want to pose is this: how many people have been taking the official portrayal of the war in Afghanistan at face value? After being boondoggled by the previous administration into invading Iraq and being falsely promised by the current administration to have Guantanamo Bay closed by 2010 I would be shocked if people who read the WikiLeaks documents are, well, shocked.

What are some of the "earth shattering" revelations? The report outlines the corruption and outright collaboration of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (the equivalent of America's CIA) with Taliban/Al-Qaeda/Haqqani forces in the border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan. We knew that the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan was a mess and that "Islamabad has no tangible control over the area." What we did not know (though certainly could have ascertained given the agency's history) is that the reason Islamabad has no control over the region is that they do not try, and they may even be making the situation worse rather than better.

Shirley Sherrod, James Clyburn, and the Politics of Race

I've tried to stay out of the Shirley Sherrod story. I see it as one of those things so ridiculous that the overwhelming majority of people would understand why Sherrod's statements were not racist and why the Obama administration was wrong for firing her. But groups like the Tea Party and the NAACP (the latter of which initially called Sherrod racist themselves) felt that the most productive thing to do was to call each other racists, and now elected officials are putting their two cents in when the piggy bank of inanity is already overflowing.

U.S. Senate Exhibits Pivotal Failure of Democracy

I've been writing about climate change issues for a while now. I've talked about the climate science, the leadership role of the House of Representatives, the childish politics and conservative propaganda. I've talked about the strong obstructionism against action by lobbyists, Republicans, and conservative Democrats. I've talked about the climatic, humanitarian, and security implications of inaction, and the concerted move (and failure) to block any government action at all. I've talked about the awareness among Americans, the problems with the media, and the implications of the oil spill.

But now it kind of feels like it's all over. Not because the Senate followed the House's leadership and passed a piece of climate change legislation of their own. But because the Senate fundamentally failed to do anything at all.