Bakersfieldbubble - Bakersfieldbubble's Blog - Bakersfield.com

Porterville School District smarter than our local "leaders"

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:12:47 PST

Three schools in the Porterville school district in the Central Valley may find part of their campuses covered with photovoltaic solar panels, if the district follows through with a plan given an initial okay this week.

The city district within Tulare County would use money through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act meant to build or upgrade school facilities.

Trustees of the Porterville Unified School District have decided to authorize “certificates of participation” to tap into the program by Dec. 31

The solar panels would be located at Granite Hills High School, Porterville Adult School, and at a third campus yet to be determined.

The school district says the three systems could provide as much as 40 percent of the power used by the district.

http://centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=13610

Boycott the Bakersfield Business Conference!

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:46:06 PST

"said Zack Scrivner, chairman of the Kern County Republican Party. "Like Ronald Reagan, he's a steadfast proponent of smaller government, less expensive government and less intrusive government - that's what most Americans want. And, like Reagan, he believes in keeping America strong "

LIES!

The size of government rose dramatically under Dick!

Also, less intrusive...really, what about spying on Americans??

Not to mention his horrible results for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan...which he was in charge of!

BOYCOTT THE BBC!

San Joaquin Bank is done!

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:50:32 PDT

As predicted by me so long ago!

Hasta la Vista!

San Joaquin Bank Chairman selling his Coastal Mansion

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:19:41 PDT

http://losangeles.blockshopper.com/property/4229018144/13600_marina_pointe_dr_unit_1009/

Crisp and Cole staffer going to the pokey...

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:10:18 PDT

When will Carl and David join him?

Jose Arredondo closing the Delano Chrysler store

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:41:25 PDT

Didn't this great "business" man say he was doing great in the newspaper the other day?

I wonder what happened? He closed the Hyundai store in delano also.

I can't wait for his bad english spin in the newspaper.

Reich-Wing Czar stupidity called out!

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:19:27 PDT

Reality Check: The Truth About "Czars"

Posted by Anita Dunn

Last week, when the President addressed the Joint Session of Congress in a speech on health reform, he referred to some of the untruths – okay, lies – that have been spread about the plan and sent a clear message to those who seek to undermine his agenda and his presidency with these tactics: "We will call you out." So consider this one of those calls.

Over the past several weeks, we've seen with increasing frequency and volume issues raised around the use of "czars" by this Administration. Although some Members have asked serious questions around the makeup of the White House staff, the bulk of the noise you hear began first with partisan commentators, suggesting that this is somehow a new and sinister development that threatens our democracy. This is, of course, ridiculous. Just to be clear, the job title "czar" doesn’t exist in the Obama Administration. Many of the officials cited by conservative commentators have been confirmed by the Senate. Many hold policy jobs that have existed in previous Administrations. And some hold jobs that involved coordinating the work of agencies on President Obama’s key policy priorities: health insurance reform, energy and green jobs, and building a new foundation for long-lasting economic growth

But of course, it’s really the hypocrisy here that is noteworthy. Just earlier today, Darrell Issa, a Republican from California and one of the leaders in calling for an investigation into the Obama Administration’s use of "czars", had to admit to Fox News that he had never raised any objections to the Bush Administration’s use of "czars". Many of these members who now decry the practice have called on Presidents in the past to appoint "czars" to coordinate activities within the government to address immediate challenges. What is clear is that all of this energy going into these attacks could be used to have a constructive conversation about bringing this country together to address our challenges moving forward – and it doesn’t take a "czar" to bring that about! Just some folks willing to act in good faith.

Take a look at the facts below – the truth about "czars":

Rhetoric: Critics have claimed the Obama Administration is filled with new and unchecked czars.

Glenn Beck Claimed There Were 32 "Czars" In The Obama Administration. "The Brainroom counts 32 czars in the Obama administration, based on media reports from reputable sources that have identified the official in question as a czar." [Glenn Beck Website, 8/21/09]

In Sunday’s Washington Post, Sen. Hutchison Claimed There Were An "Unprecedented 32 Czar Posts." "A few of them have formal titles, but most are simply known as "czars.’ They hold unknown levels of power over broad swaths of policy. Under the Obama administration, we have an unprecedented 32 czar posts (a few of which it has yet to fill), including a ‘car czar,’ a ‘pay czar’ and an ‘information czar.’" [Washington Post, 9/13/09]

Reality: Many of the arbitrarily labeled "czars" on Beck’s list are Senate-confirmed appointees or advisory roles carried over from previous administrations. Others are advisors to the President’s Cabinet Secretaries. Beck himself says on his own website, "Since czar isn't an official job title, the number is somewhat in the eye of the beholder."

Republicans have supported these positions in the past. When asked on Fox News if he had opposed any of President Bush’s "czars," Rep. Darrell Issa admitted "No we didn’t." In fact, the Bush administration had many of the same officials and advisors now described as "czars," including Afghanistan czar, AIDS czar, Drug czar, Faith-based czar, Intelligence czar, Mideast Peace Czar, Regulatory Czar, Science Czar, Sudan Czar, TARP/Bailout Czar, Terrorism Czar, and Weapons Czar.

Of the 32 "czars" on Beck’s list, nine were confirmed by the Senate:

Deputy Interior Secretary David J. Hayes ("California Water Czar")
Director of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske ("Drug Czar")
OMB Deputy Director Jeff Zients ("Government Performance Czar")
Director of National Intelligence Adm. Dennis Blair ("Intelligence Czar")
OMB Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Cass Sunstein ("Regulatory Czar")
Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and OSTP Director John Holdren ("Science Czar")
Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability Herb Allison ("TARP Czar")
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Ashton Carter ("Weapons Czar")
OSTP Associate Director Aneesh Chopra ("Technology Czar")

Many of the same critics who are decrying these roles have applauded or even pushed for them in the past. Sen. Robert Bennett has criticized czars as "undermining the Constitution," but reportedly prodded President Clinton to appoint a Y2K Czar. In a 1999 CNN appearance, Sen. Bennett said "I think John Koskinen has been superb. I wrote the president six months before John was appointed, recommending that he appoint a Y2K czar." At a 1999 National Press Club luncheon, Bennett told reporters the Koskinen was "there to help, prod, give information, and make analyses and reports" and said he spoke with the czar to ensure "we maintain the kind of bipartisan and across-the-government sort of communication that this never becomes a political issue."

Senator Lamar Alexander has also criticized President Obama’s "czars," calling them "an affront to the Constitution." But during remarks delivered on the Senate floor in 2003, Sen. Alexander said "I would welcome" President Bush’s "manufacturing job czar." That same day in the Senate, he also expressed support for President Bush’s AIDS czar Randall Tobias.

When asked on Fox News if he had opposed any of President Bush’s "czars," Rep. Darrell Issa responded "No we didn’t," despite previously claiming that czars "undermine" transparency and accountability.

In fact, last year, 176 House Republicans, including Issa, voted for a bill that would create an "Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator" that would advise the President and serve in the White House. By the time the bill passed the Senate, it was co-sponsored by 20 additional senators, including Sen. Alexander.

Racist CONservatives looking for great White Hope (McCarthy?)

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:32:27 PDT

Rep. Lynn Jenkins says the GOP needs a ‘great white hope’ to thwart President Obama.
At a town hall forum last week, Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) offered encouragement to conservative activists by saying there were some “really sharp” young Republicans in the House. “Republicans are struggling right now to find the great white hope,” said Jenkins. “I suggest to any of you who are concerned about that, who are Republican, there are some great young Republican minds in Washington.” Jenkins proceeded to name three GOP members of Congress who are all white — Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). Watch it:

Has Bakersfield.com and other local websites becoming irrelevant?The tv stations are even worse.

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:57:51 PDT

Has this site jumped the shark, along with the daily newspaper?

Tea bag movement shrivels...

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:03:54 PDT

Must be the hot air...

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/7/6/750418/-Teabag-shrivel

Bright House is a joke!

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:41:18 PDT

Day 1 of the Tour de France and their new HD channel does not work!!!!

Brighthouse please fix this mess!!!

Tea Baggers go flat!!

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:18:00 PDT

http://washingtonindependent.com/49616/tea-party-movement-loses-steam

Californian downsizing newspaper?

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:01:34 PDT

Word is M-F will be a tabloid style newspaper?

Its hard seeing this newspaper lose its luster...I delivered papers in the 70's as a kid.

Watch out for Right-wingers with Guns and Hatred. Conservatives are evil!

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:22:07 PDT

Keep an watch out for anyone you know who listens to Fox News, Rush Blimpbaugh, Sean Hateful Hannity, Glen Nutjob Beck, etc....

Solution to state and local crisis? Cut Firefighter Pay in Half!

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:44:37 PDT

FF's are way overpaid. Sitting around the station all day long, or going to the local gym or eating at a local restaurant on OUR DIME! ENOUGH!

Cut their pay and Pensions in half and I would bet there would still be 50 people applying for every job opening! Where would these overpaid guys go anyway and get these kind of salaries!

We can no longer afford to pay these guys $100k+ per year! ENOUGH!

BAKERSFIELD BUBBLE MARKET CALL - The bottom is in!

Wed, 06 May 2009 08:11:20 PDT

Former housing bubble BEAR and the man (ME) whole predicted this financial mess says the following:

I am officially calling a bottom in the local housing market and saying its a good time to buy a house, IF you can afford the payments (no more than 30% of monthly income), put down at least 10%, have good credit to afford a low FIXED RATE interest loan and have 6 months of cash reserves (to cushion the blow of the unexpected, job loss, medical bills, etc..).

Will the house prices continue to drop...probably another 5-10%. But if you put down 10% you will be able to cushion the blow.

Right now median house prices are less than 2.7 times median income..during the boom we were at 8.1 times, clearly unsustainable.

CONservatives block pandemic funding! Thanks for nothing. I hope Karl Rove gets swine flu!

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:55:32 PDT

In Attempt To Placate The Right Wing, Collins and Specter Endorsed Pandemic Flu Funding Cut
On February 5, Karl Rove took to the pages of the Wall Street Journal to argue against President Obama's Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act because, in his view, the spending was not targeted to create or preserve jobs. In particular, Rove complained about the fact that the bill included "$900 million for pandemic flu preparations." He contended that such spending was unnecessary because the health care sector "added jobs last year."

Rep. David Obey (D-WI) included the pandemic preparation funding in the package because he believed "that a pandemic hitting in the midst of an economic downturn could turn a recession into something far worse." But Rove was not concerned with the actual substance of the funding.

Rather, as Paul Krugman explained at the time, in attempting to oppose and discredit the economic recovery package, conservatives in the media and Republicans in congress aligned themselves around a strategy that amounted to "snickering at stuff that they think sounds funny." Unfortunately, this "snickering" at funding priorities had very real impacts.

Indeed, like Rove, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) was apparently unwilling to be seen as endorsing such "funny" sounding priorities as flu "preparedness" in an economic recovery package. Perhaps in an attempt to prove her fiscal conservative bona fides, Collins repeatedly insisted that Obey's pandemic preparedness funding did not belong in the bill:

COLLINS: There's funding to help improve our preparedness for a pandemic flu. There is funding to help improve cyber security. What does that have to do with an economic stimulus package? [CNN, 1/31/09]

COLLINS: I think everybody in the room is concerned about a pandemic flu. But does it belong in this bill? Should we have $870 million in this bill? No. We should not. [MSNBC, 2/5/09]

After the funding was stripped, another moderate Republican attempting to appear tough on "unnecessary" spending in the recovery package, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), endorsed Collins' crusade against the pandemic preparedness funding on Fox News:

MS. KELLY: Okay. $780 million for pandemic flu preparedness, in or out?

SEN. SPECTER: Out. Very important projects, I took the lead along with Tom Harkin on some massive funding for pandemic flu, but it belongs in our regular appropriations bill.

Now, in light of the current outbreak of swine flu, their attempts to placate the conservative wing of their party by standing up against extremely important funding priorities looks extremely shortsighted. Ironically, those ultra conservatives in office who led the fight against the stimulus, like Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX), are seeking government assistance in addressing the swine flu outbreak.

Not much teabagging downtown

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:39:39 PDT

Small crowd, lots of old people.

I had one Q for these old folks at the protest....are you willing to give up your SS and Medicare? Because there is no way you have paid in enought to cover the benefits you have received..No way!

Refi-guy and reich-wingers choking it down!

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:12:53 PDT

LOL!!!

How does it taste? What kind of beer do you choke your crow down with?

GOD BLESS AMERICA AND GOD BLESS BARACK OBAMA!

Which Californian blooger's made these wrong calls on the housing market?

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:32:41 PST

"I doubt the bubble will "burst"

or this

"Clearly you're a believer in the "bubble", however, consider one thing - real estate values always go up. Always."