Author Archives: Chadwick15O

The 20 Feet Separating Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in Des Moines

by Chadwick15O Posted on February 2, 2016

Mother Jones

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The first thing you see when you approach Hillary Clinton’s campaign headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, is a young man clad in a bright blue Bernie Sanders T-shirt and hoisting up a Bernie sign.

When you realize that Sanders has an office about 20 feet down the hall from Clinton’s organizing HQ, the sight makes a little more sense. Clinton opened her second-floor office back in June; Sanders opened his office—his state headquarters—in the fall. (As Sanders’ campaign boomed, it had to open a second, larger office 2.5 miles down the road.) “Bless you,” a Bernie canvasser said as she heard someone sneeze from inside the Clinton suite (the door was open).

The man in the entrance is Dakota Nelson, 26, of Delray Beach, Florida. Just two hours before the caucuses kick off, Nelson was taking a break from his grueling 12-hours-a-day canvassing schedule. He looked exhausted and a little jittery, and when asked how it would feel if Clinton were to win the caucuses Monday night, he said he didn’t even want to go there emotionally.

Dakota Nelson greets people at the entrance to an office building that houses both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton campaign offices. Patrick Caldwell/Mother Jones

Nelson is indicative of what we saw in two Sanders offices in Des Moines on Monday: out of state volunteers working tirelessly to get out the vote for their candidate. Mother Jones came across volunteers from Florida, Ohio, and Alabama. These volunteers explained to us that teams from other states were out canvassing. Sarah Sladick, 20, and Abby Loveless, 19, had come from Birmingham, Alabama, on Thursday to go door-knocking in Newton, Iowa. They ran into Clinton canvassers on the same block and rushed to beat them to people’s doors. When asked about the differences between Alabama and Iowa, Sladick said, “The squirrels are really big.” She and Loveless talked excitedly about how Foster the People and Connor Paolo of Gossip Girl fame had stopped by the office earlier in the day.

Clinton’s office, meanwhile, was filled with Iowans and staffers who had been working hard for a long time. Some had been with the campaign since the spring. “I feel like an honorary Iowan,” said one paid field organizer who’d moved to Iowa from New York in April. Her car even has Iowa license plates.

The Sanders and Clinton offices are a reflection of what is about to play out here: The question is whether a swell of frenzied, passionate volunteers or a months-long ground game of nose-to-the-ground organizers will win the day.

Phone bankers at Clinton’s Des Moines office Patrick Caldwell/Mother Jones

A Sanders poster at Sanders’ Des Moines HQ Patrick Caldwell/Mother Jones

Old school at Clinton’s Des Moines field office Patrick Caldwell/Mother Jones

Enticing Sanders’ volunteers with food Patrick Caldwell/Mother Jones

Volunteers leave their mark at Clinton’s office. Patrick Caldwell/Mother Jones

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The 20 Feet Separating Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in Des Moines

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Netanyahu and Obama Agree: Global Warming Is a Huge Threat

by Chadwick15O Posted on March 3, 2015

Mother Jones

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Today Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, at the invitation of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). The speech has caused a considerable flap, with Democrats criticizing it as an unprecedented affront to President Barack Obama.

But while the president and Netanyahu might have vastly different visions for how to deal with the threat posed by Iran, they do seem to agree on one thing: the threat posed by climate change. Over the past few months Obama has repeatedly emphasized the dangers associated with global warming. In his State of the Union address in January, he said that “no challenge poses a greater threat to future generations” than climate change. And in a recent national security document, Obama called climate change an “urgent and growing threat.” Despite GOP protestations to the contrary, Obama’s concerns are legitimate: New research released yesterday, for example, found that man-made climate change was a key factor in the Syrian civil war.

It seems Bibi had the same thought as early as 2010, when his cabinet approved a wide-reaching plan to reduce Israel’s carbon footprint. At the time, the prime minister said that “the threat of climate change is no less menacing than the security threats that we face.” From the Jerusalem Post:

At the UN Copenhagen Climate Summit in December 2009, Israel pledged to reduce emissions by 20 percent from a “business as usual” scenario by 2020.

“The recent dry months, including the driest November in the history of the state, are a warning light to us all that the threat of climate change is no less menacing than the security threats that we face. I intend to act determinedly in this field. In a country that suffers from a severe water shortage, this is an existential struggle,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said at the cabinet meeting.

Israel doesn’t face the kind of political resistance from climate change deniers that is all too common in the United States, said Gidon Bromberg, Israel director of EcoPeace Middle East. But the country is struggling to meet its carbon emission and renewable energy targets because government spending is so heavily concentrated on defense, he said.

“They’ve given the issue a great deal of lip service,” he said, “but in practice none of these targets have been met.”

Still, Israel has been at the forefront of developing seawater desalination technology to confront drought. The country has the biggest desal plant in the world, and last year Netanyahu signed a deal with California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) to share research and technology for dealing with water scarcity.

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Netanyahu and Obama Agree: Global Warming Is a Huge Threat

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Europeans Unhappy Over High American Capital Standards

by Chadwick15O Posted on March 10, 2014

Mother Jones

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The Fed has adopted rules that require foreign banks operating in the US to maintain the same capital standards as US banks. German bankers are unhappy about this:

In comments prepared for a speech in Berlin Monday, Andreas Dombret said that recent U.S. regulatory initiatives, “such as the enhanced standards for bank holding companies and foreign banking organizations, worry me. They seem to contradict the need for international cooperation.”

….The Fed recently approved new rules that force the largest international banks operating in America to establish U.S.-based “intermediate holding companies,” which will be subject to the same capital and liquidity requirements as domestic banks….European bankers have sharply criticized the move. “This is a considerable competitive handicap for European banks, as their U.S. competitors aren’t subject to any equivalent requirements in the EU,” said Michael Kemmer, head of the Association of German Banks last month.

Well, in that case, I recommend that the EU raise its capital standards and then subject American banks to it. Instead, last month they decided to ease leverage standards. I guess they’ve already forgotten what things looked like back in 2010. In case you have too, the chart on the right tells the story.

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Europeans Unhappy Over High American Capital Standards

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