Kurt Christensen's Profile
Kurt Christensen
Location: Westminster, MD
Date Joined: February 3, 2008
Votes: 77
Questions: 5
Questions Answered: 3
Latest
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Before his execution, Sadam Hussein was doing a lot of writing. What ever became of those manuscripts? When will the translated text be provided to the American people? More
Asked 3 weeks 1 day ago of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)
by Kurt Christensen from Westminster, MD -
Who authorized the departure of Saudi Nationals (including the Bin Laden family) when the U.S. airspace was otherwise closed? More
Asked 6 weeks 6 days ago of All U.S. Senators
by Kurt Christensen from Westminster, MD
CNC Picks
Answered
The Florida primary was moved forward as part of a referendum to standardize on optical scan voting machines. Would you care to comment on how that referendum happened to change the date of the Florida primary... and disenfranchise the Florida voters?
Asked by: Kurt Christensen from Westminster, MD. Received 14 Votes.
Listen to: U.S. Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL)
Well, first I don’t think it was just that referendum caused the change. I believe the state legislature on the House side or the Speaker of the House proffered a motion that came over to the Senate, and the Democrats in the Senate wanted a paper trail measure added to it with reference to the change of the date. So the change of the date took place inside the legislature with the Governor’s approval and not on a state-wide referendum.
Answered on Jun 30th, 2008 More
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Can you confirm that U.S. policy in Iraq prohibits Iraqi farmers from replanting their traditional seeds in lieu of patented seeds from the west? In fact making saving seeds illegal. If so, do you think this is good policy, and why?
Asked by: Kurt Christensen from Westminster, MD. Received 29 Votes.
Listen to: U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO)
They produce a lot of potatoes over there, I know that. There is very little their soil is actually conducive for agriculture. They do have some irrigated ground down in the south around Basra but, you know, most of that was drained or flooded by Saddam Hussein. I don’t know if they’ve ever gotten that infrastructure back yet. Not a whole lot of agriculture takes place in Iraq. There’s a lot of desert there, so they don’t have the water infrastructure either, is the problem. I mean I couldn’t…I’m just not sure.
Answered on Jun 19th, 2008 More
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Would you be willing to put limits on usurious rates being charged by credit card companies in order to stimulate consumer spending?
Asked by: Kurt Christensen from Westminster, MD. Received 1 Vote.
Listen to: U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
When I was in the House, I was on the financial services committee. And the answer to your question is yes, and we’re working on that legislation. Right now because of the collapse of the middle class and the increase of poverty, you’re finding large numbers of American families who when they go to the grocery story, are buying groceries on a credit card. And despite the fact they are paying their bills every single month, the credit card companies are charging them 25, 28 percent interest rate. That is absolutely outrageous and a rip-off that cannot be tolerated.
Answered on Feb 20th, 2008 More
Recent Comments
Congressman Graves said nothing about policies regarding the saving and reuse of seed. Perhaps some clarification is in order.
The article Iraq's new patent law: A declaration of war against farmers was clarified. It says that "The law does not prohibit Iraqi farmers from using or saving traditional seeds. It prohibits them from reusing seeds of new plant varieties registered under the law." However, practically speaking, only new, protected seeds are available.
There is plenty of hardship going around. Read Why Iraqi Farmers Might Prefer Death to Paul Bremer's Order 81 to get some idea of how this was taken. Still, western companies are making the big push, as evidenced by Firms Seek Patents on 'Climate Ready' Altered Crops. See also Iraq and Washington's 'seeds of democracy'.
Muscle' Silences Credit Card Adversaries
Travel to D.C., but Refuse Demand to Reveal Financial Information in Exchange for Chance to Testify
By VIJA UDENANS
March 13, 2008
Christy Mylar Smith and her husband paid their Citibank card bill on time for years -- but when they paid late twice in one year, their interest rate increased from 12.9 percent to 31.4 percent overnight.
Steven Strachan has a FICO score in the high 700's, has always paid on time, never gone over the limit, yet Chase increased his rate from 10.99 percent to 24.99 percent.
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At the 11th hour, the credit companies found a way to stop those that had traveled to Washington today to tell their story to the Congressional panel on consumer credit.
The banks whose practices were about to be discussed on Capital Hill were demanding that those testifying before Congress about credit card practices sign a waiver that allowed their personal financial information be revealed to the public.
The Republicans on the sub-committee were backing the banks' requests and a procedural battle would have ensued.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=4448963&page=1
More and more I am seeing citizens, trying to make a statement, shuttled off to a nearby "Free Speech Zone," out of view of cameras and the public. This seems odd to me. This is America. Isn't the whole country supposed to be a free speech zone?
Oil is a commodity that is traded on an exchange like all others. The price is set by the market. (Yes. Supply/Demand apply, but indirectly). There would be less speculation if buyers were required to take delivery of the oil they purchased... much like they did with sugar.