[tomder55]

Former Sen. John Edwards is the greenest presidential candidate, thousands of MoveOn.org members decided after listening to the Democrats' plans to combat global warming.

Mr. Edwards, North Carolina Democrat, was the preferred choice of more than a third of the liberal political action committee's members who watched virtual town hall forums giving each Democrat three questions.

Mr. Edwards, the 2004 vice presidential nominee, outlined his plan to "fight global warming and create a new energy economy" and was the preferred candidate of 33 percent of the more than 100,000 voters.

He received twice the support of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio, who each were favored by 15.7 percent of viewers. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois closely followed in fourth place at 15 percent.

The Edwards plan — which would ban any new coal-fired power plant from being built in the U.S. — aims to reduce greenhouse gases 80 percent by 2050.

Mr. Edwards and Mr. Obama said they would auction off polluter permits and use the money to promote clean energy and alternative fuel research, while Mrs. Clinton said she was "intrigued" by that idea.

Mr. Edwards also pledged to spend $1 billion to make sure America builds "the most fuel-efficient, innovative cars on the planet," stressing the jobs should go to union members in towns hurt by outsourcing. He said he would create one million new "green-collar jobs," a term most Democratic presidential candidates are using on the campaign trail.

MoveOn reported that more than 100,000 members tuned in Saturday for the town hall, timed to coincide with former Vice President Al Gore's "Live Earth" global warming concerts.

Liberals say Edwards greenest - Nation/Politics - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper


This comes in the wake of Edwards announcing his excellent road trip where he will try to lift a page from JFK ;[or was that Jack Kerouac ? ] and travel the other half of his 2 Americas . This photo-op trip will include according to the Politico's Mike Allen :

Edwards in coal country, Edwards in a factory, Edwards on a farm, Edwards in a struggling neighborhood, Edwards in a school, Edwards in a health care clinic.

According to an Edwards aide ;

“It’s an effort to show the rest of the country how 37 million Americans live their lives in poverty every single day,”... “It’s not only their workplaces -- it’s their homes and the places they get health care.”

Ben Smith's Blog - Politico.com

I think it is his plan at the end of the day to give tours of his new homestead to show those poverty ravaged folks how his America lives and to demonstrate how big the clear cut swath could've been if he wasn't so green .

The rambling structure sits in the middle of a 102-acre estate on Old Greensboro Road west of Chapel Hill. The heavily wooded site and winding driveway ensure that the home is not visible from the road. “No Trespassing” signs discourage passersby from venturing past the gate.

Don Knight, Orange County building plans examiner, told CJ that, including the recreational building, the Edwardses’ home would be one of the largest in Orange County.

Knight approved the building plans that showed the Edwards home totaling 28,200 square feet of connected space. The main house is 10,400 square feet and has two garages. The recreation building, a red, barn-like building containing 15,600 square feet, is connected to the house by a closed-in and roofed structure of varying widths and elevations that totals 2,200 square feet.

The main house is all on one level except for a 600-square-foot bedroom and bath area above the guest garage.

The recreation building contains a basketball court, a squash court, two stages, a bedroom, kitchen, bathrooms, swimming pool, a four-story tower, and a room designated “John’s Lounge.”

Edwards Home County's Largest

Contrast that with President Bush's home in Crawford the so called Texas White House:

Geothermal heat pumps located in a central closet circulate water through pipes buried 300 feet deep in the ground where the temperature is a constant 67 degrees; the water heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. Systems such as the one in this "eco-friendly" dwelling use about 25% of the electricity that traditional heating and cooling systems utilize.

A 25,000-gallon underground cistern collects rainwater gathered from roof runs; wastewater from sinks, toilets and showers goes into underground purifying tanks and is also funneled into the cistern. The water from the cistern is used to irrigate the landscaping surrounding the four-bedroom home. Plants and flowers native to the high prairie area blend the structure into the surrounding ecosystem.

“By marketplace standards, the house is startlingly small,” says David Heymann, the architect of the 4,000-square-foot home. “Clients of similar ilk are building 16-to-20,000-square-foot houses.” Furthermore for thermal mass the walls are clad in "discards of a local stone called Leuders limestone, which is quarried in the area. The 12-to-18-inch-thick stone has a mix of colors on the top and bottom, with a cream- colored center that most people want. “They cut the top and bottom of it off because nobody really wants it,” Heymann says. “So we bought all this throwaway stone. It’s fabulous. It’s got great color and it is relatively inexpensive.”

[NeedKarma]

Bah, Americans and their need for a McMansion...
That house of cards (trying to appear wealthy) is all coming down. Record number of foreclosures have started and will only increase.

[tomder55]

The crisis in the housing market is the result of sub-prime mortgages that were loaned to people who really do not qualify for them due to their incomes. During the 1980s I did something similar because of the inflation in home prices I couldn't save enough for a decent down payment . So I purchased a starter home with a 5% down-payment and an adjustable rate mortgage .I paid PMI. The house was mine . Then the home values dropped . I owed more on my mortgage then the home was worth. If I could've sucked it up and stayed there a decade the market turned and I would've been OK. But I never intended it to be anything but a starter home . I sold it for apx. $40,000 loss. But I considered it a parallel move because I in turn was able to purchase my current home at below current market rates.

You are right about the McMansions I find them distasteful . My current home is a 1930s Montgomery Ward 'Wardway bungalow' that has been remodeled and expanded . It fits in very nicely with the neighborhood which still resembles Maybury RFD more so than the urban sprawl that is creeping into our area.

[speechlesstx]

Gee, Bush the environmental criminal sets a better personal example than Edwards and The Goracle. Why am I not surprised?

[NeedKarma]

Why am I not surprised?

Because you spend all day every day looking to support your leader?

[ETWolverine]

Needkarma,

Maybe that's because Bush deserves support, whereas Hillary, Obama, Edwards, et.all do not.

Can you name a single accomplishment of Hillary Clinton in the 6 years she's been in the Senate? How about Obama in the past 2 years since his election? Or Edwards in the past 8 years?

By comparison, I can name several accomplishments of George Bush. His tax cuts paved the way for the healthiest economy of the past 40 years. His foreign policies have eliminated two dictatorial regimes and freed roughly 50 million people from the rule of dictatorships. And he now holds the record for the longest period between terorist attacks on US soil. I don't agree with everything he does, but I can name his accomplishments. And that deserves support.

Can you say the same?

Elliot

[NeedKarma]

He is also raping you blind:
President Bush Spending Billions for His Executive Offices
Ben Moseley

1) dwarfed that of the Nation Science Foundation
2) nearly equaled that of the EPA
3)nearly doubled that of the Army Corps of Engineers ( don't show this to anyone living in the 9th ward)
4)and was nearly 32 TIMES the annual budget of the executive office during the Clinton Administration.

It's just lucky for us Bush isn't one of those damned Liberals, you know, just spending other people's money on whatever he feels like. Nope, he's a good Republican, giving us all tax breaks and trimming the fat from the Federal budget.

[Dark_crow]

He is also raping you blind:
President Bush Spending Billions for His Executive Offices
Ben Moseley

1) dwarfed that of the Nation Science Foundation
2) nearly equaled that of the EPA
3)nearly doubled that of the Army Corps of Engineers ( don't show this to anyone living in the 9th ward)
4)and was nearly 32 TIMES the annual budget of the executive office during the Clinton Administration.

It's just lucky for us Bush isn't one of those damned Liberals, you know, just spending other people's money on whatever he feels like. Nope, he's a good Republican, giving us all tax breaks and trimming the fat from the Federal budget.

Are the increases shown in all outlays just in proportion to cost of living I wonder…government just keeps growing… but is it growing in proportion or by leaps and bounds?

[NeedKarma]

Have you noticed how quickly it drops after 2008? :D

[Dark_crow]

Have you noticed how quickly it drops after 2008? :D

Yeah, and high it went in ‘05:eek:

[speechlesstx]

Because you spend all day every day looking to support your leader?

Nope, I spend much more time defending truth and morality. Then I go home, maybe have a Corona with a nice slice of lime, work in the garden a bit, spend time with my beautiful wife and play with my two precious dogs, Molly and Skyler.

[speechlesstx]

He is also raping you blind:
President Bush Spending Billions for His Executive Offices
Ben Moseley

1) dwarfed that of the Nation Science Foundation
2) nearly equaled that of the EPA
3)nearly doubled that of the Army Corps of Engineers ( don't show this to anyone living in the 9th ward)
4)and was nearly 32 TIMES the annual budget of the executive office during the Clinton Administration.

It's just lucky for us Bush isn't one of those damned Liberals, you know, just spending other people's money on whatever he feels like. Nope, he's a good Republican, giving us all tax breaks and trimming the fat from the Federal budget.

Well, he did finally give all those reporters a nicer press room from which to assault him.

[NeedKarma]

Speech,
Our lifestyles are incredibly similar (swap dogs for kids in my case). My sister recently bought a case of Corona light, it's OK with the lime and I can drink more!

[speechlesstx]

Speech,
Our lifestyles are incredibly similar (swap dogs for kids in my case). My sister recently bought a case of Corona light, it's ok with the lime and I can drink more!

Yeah, but do you go to church every Sunday, too? :)

[NeedKarma]

Used to. Went to Catholic and Jesuit school (nice private education) but travelling around Europe I met so many good people from so many different backgrounds and beliefs that the belief part no longer mattered to me, just the "good person" part. Plus, to be honest, I've met too many hypocritical types and fanatical types in various denominations to give me a bad taste for life. I believe faith is a personal issue, no one wants to have someone else else tell them they are wrong.

[ETWolverine]

He is also raping you blind:
President Bush Spending Billions for His Executive Offices
Ben Moseley

1) dwarfed that of the Nation Science Foundation
2) nearly equaled that of the EPA
3)nearly doubled that of the Army Corps of Engineers ( don't show this to anyone living in the 9th ward)
4)and was nearly 32 TIMES the annual budget of the executive office during the Clinton Administration.

It's just lucky for us Bush isn't one of those damned Liberals, you know, just spending other people's money on whatever he feels like. Nope, he's a good Republican, giving us all tax breaks and trimming the fat from the Federal budget.

Oh my god, you're right. Bush actually spent 0.1% of the federal budget on the Executive branch in 2004, 0.3% in 2005, 0.2% in 2006, and an estimated 0.1% in 2007. We're getting totally screwed.

Or not.

The Legislative and Judiciary branched spent 0.2% of the federal budget each of those years. The excutive spent an average of 0.175% of the budget over the same period.

Also, what Mr. Mosley fails to inform you is that the increased spending is taking place in two categories: One is the "Spectrum Relocation Fund", which supports moving federal agencies that use wireless services into a different spectrum of wireless wavelengths, opening up the federal wavelengths to commercial use. It takes a lot of money to change that much federal equipment to emit a new wavelength. The spending that is taking place falls under the category of CAPITAL EXPENDITURES. Bush isn't spending a dime of that money on himself or his cronies. He's spending that money on the federal government in response to the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act that was passed by Congress in 2004. The 2007 expenditure for the Spectrum Relocation Fund in 2007 is roughly $1 billion. So in fact, Bush isn't the reason this money is being spent, Congress is. If you feel that you are getting ripped off, blame Congress.

The second category where spending has increased is in the Iraqi Relief and Reconstruction Funds. In other words, Bush is taking the money from the budget for HIS OFFICE and using it to help build Iraq. In most places, we call that putting your money where your mouth is. That will be roughly $2.3 billion in 2007, down from $5.1 billion in 2006.

But why look at the facts. They just get in the way. It's so much easier to just look at a bunch of numbers without knowing what those numbers mean and accuse Bush of ripping us off.

I suggest that you actually do your OWN research, Needkarma, rather than relying on the lazy efforts of people like Ben Mosley as your source for information. The guy is a hack who doesn't bother with little details like research.

Elliot

[ETWolverine]

Have you noticed how quickly it drops after 2008? :D

Yes I have. That's because in 2008, the move to the new spectrum by federal agencies will be completed and because budgetary decisions with regard to Iraq will be made by SOMEONE ELSE in those years, and trying to assume that someone else will spend Executive Office budgetary funds on Iraq would be presumtuous.

Try looking at what the numbers mean before you simply quote them. All of this information is quite readily available in the 2008 Presidential Budget, if you are willing to look at the WHOLE THING rather than a single page that doesn't tell you where the money is going.

[NeedKarma]

Try looking at what the numbers mean before you simply quote them. All of this information is quite readily available in the 2008 Presidential Budget, if you are willing to look at the WHOLE THING rather than a single page that doesn't tell you where the money is going.

Unless you are in the administration YOU have no idea where the money is going either. That page is indeed very telling, no matter how had you try to spin it. "Move to a new spectrum"? What does that even mean? And of course someone else will be in charge in 2008, you don't think the reader understands that?

[NeedKarma]

CaptainRich disagrees: This an adjustment in an overinflated real estate market. Look at the DOW. I like it.

That's one hell of a correction:
Bloomberg.com: Worldwide

"Investors have criticized Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch Ratings because their ratings on bonds backed by mortgages to people with poor or limited credit don't reflect the fastest default rate in a decade."

[speechlesstx]

Used to. Went to Catholic and Jesuit school (nice private education) but travelling around Europe I met so many good people from so many different backgrounds and beliefs that the belief part no longer mattered to me, just the "good person" part. Plus, to be honest, I've met too many hypocritical types and fanatical types in various denominations to give me a bad taste for life. I believe faith is a personal issue, no one wants to have someone else else tell them they are wrong.

I have to acknowledge the "too many hypocritical types" and that's a sad commentary on ANY religion. Me, I'm just a sinner saved by grace... I ain't 'perfect' like those people.