?

Senator Carl Levin says Obama should try to force a New Year's Eve vote on his tax plan which calls for extending the current rates ONLY for households making less than $250k and individuals making less than $200k.

see article here: http://blogs.mcclatchydc.com/washington/2010/12/le...

Do you think this is what he should do? Should he try to show the American people that Republicans are raising everyone's taxes, 98% of the nation, so that less than 2% of the nation that makes more than those levels can not have marginal rates rise by about 4.5% on part of their income?

Should stand up and tell Americans that he also that Republicans are holding the extension of unemployment benefits and many other tax breaks hostage for that less than 2% of the population, less than 3% of all small business owners, that make more than those levels?

Be clear here, if the Republicans call his bluff then everyone's taxes rise and unemployment benefits won't be extended and various college tuition and earned income credits and small business tax breaks won't be extended.

If he can get the Senate Democratic leadership to go along should he make this stand instead of compromising?

Republican senators blocked Democratic legislation on Thursday that sought to provide medical care to rescue workers and residents of New York City who became ill as a result of breathing in toxic fumes, dust and smoke from ground zero.

They've been wailing about a Muslim Center near Ground Zero as somehow desecrating 'holy ground', but have no problem stabbing the heroes of that day in the back.

Are you outraged?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/nyregion/10healt...

Under Bill Clinton the most jobs were created in total and per year. Yes, taxes were raised on the highest earners under Clinton.

Under George W. Bush the least jobs were created in total and per year and the worst record on jobs being created since the government began keeping records. The Bush Tax Cuts did not create jobs then and so saying that they will create jobs in the future is baseless.

Under Jimmy Carter more jobs were created per year than under Ronald Reagan but more jobs in total were created under Reagan--he had two terms vs. Carter's one term.

See Wall Street Journal chart linked here: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/01/09/bush-on-...

I flew home for my Thanksgiving break to spend it at home with my family. I was scanned at the airport but no pat down (good thing because like a dummy I wore a skirt lol) I made sure that I had removed all metal and jewelry prior to going to the airport because over the years I have learned that is the best way to fly thru the process. The lines were short, it went quickly and there were no delays and certainly no protests at security in either the departing city or the arrival city.

That protest was a major dud and a fantasy created on the net but not connected to reality, see story at link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101125/ap_on_re_us/us...

Anyone else fly today? How did it go?

Joe Swaggered, he thought he was golden when Sarah Palin endorsed him.

But Joe was a clown, a Tea Party joke not ready for prime time and despite being backed by Palin, the Tea Party and the National Republican Party, Joe lost to a WRITE-IN CANDIDATE!

How big of a schmuk is Joe?

Is he a bigger one than Sharon Angel who spent $31 million and LOST

Is he a bigger one than Christine O'Donnell who was even less qualified than Sarah Palin!

Or, is the biggest schmuck Sarah Palin, who endorsed these three losers when they weren't qualified to be dog catcher?

What say you? :)

John Boehner meets weekly with lobbyists to plot strategy in order to do their bidding legislatively. In return Mr. Boehner has received millions in contributions from Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and other financial and banking interests, is treated to posh resorts and shuttled around on corporate aircraft.

Boehner has taken 45 trips on corporate jets over the last several years, been pampered at luxurious resorts all on the lobbyists' tabs, playing golf at their expense. Now who do you think he is going to have in his mind to work for when he is Speaker, the average American or his lobbyist benefactors and their patrons who fete him in the lap of luxury and fund his campaigns and lavish trips?

Will he begin to once again hand out lobbyist payoffs on the floor of the House to his fellow Republicans like he did in 1995?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/us/politics/12bo...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/07/john-b...

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/01/29/boehner-lies-l...

John Boehner meets weekly with lobbyists to plot strategy in order to do their bidding legislatively. In return Mr. Boehner has received millions in contributions from Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and other financial and banking interests, is treated to posh resorts and shuttled around on corporate aircraft.

Boehner has taken 45 trips on corporate jets over the last several years, been pampered at luxurious resorts all on the lobbyists' tabs, playing golf at their expense. Now who do you think he is going to have in his mind to work for when he is Speaker, the average American or his lobbyist benefactors and their patrons who fete him in the lap of luxury and fund his campaigns and lavish trips?

Will he begin to once again hand out lobbyist payoffs on the floor of the House to his fellow Republicans?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/us/politics/12bo...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive...

A few years ago I caught briefly a film in which I believe Lou Reed sang a song accompanying himself on an acoustic guitar. It was a rather folky style and it was particularly good. But, I have no idea what movie it was or what song. Is there a big Lou Reed expert out there that might be able to tell me what flick I need to find and maybe even the name of the song he sang? Thanks!

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/101006/world/us_imm...

It is popular among Republicans and Tea Party types to say Obama is 'soft' on illegals, but that simply has not been the case:

"...The United States deported a record 392,000 illegal immigrants over the past year, nearly half of them people with criminal convictions, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday.

The number deported during the 2010 fiscal year ending September 30 surpassed the record of 389,000 deportations set the previous year..."

In addition, his Administration has leveled a record amount in fines against businesses that hire illegals and deported a many more criminals than the Bush Administration:

"...Immigration agents have audited 3,200 employers suspected of hiring illegal immigrants, debarred 225 companies and individuals, and levied 50 million dollars in penalties -- more than during the entire Bush administration, ICE said.

Deportations of convicted criminals were up 70 percent in 2010 compared to 2008, the final year of the Bush administration, the agency said...."

Hmmm....what seems to be happening is that the efforts to have a Tea Party Convention in Las Vegas and another to have a "three day Tea Party" extravaganza in D.C. have both been cancelled due to lack of interest. FreedomWorks, the lobbyist organization that funded prior Tea Party events found that its rally last Sunday was much smaller than a year ago.

Are people finally getting wise to the phoniness of the Tea Party as being merely a front for various Republican and right-wing organizations that fund it and not some 'grassroots' movement?

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/tea-...

Once again the Republicans in the United States Senate voted to unanimously to block passage of legislation that would require both corporations and unions to disclose when they are paying for a political advertisements and contributing to organizations funding political ads.

Republicans said that having to disclose would 'chill' political speech. What is that all about? How does saying I paid for this advertisement chill political speech? Isn't the truth of the matter that they want those that fund ads to remain unknown so that people viewing the ads might not think that those funding it might be promoting their own interests in such ads?

When someone gives you their opinion on a matter would you take it seriously if they wore a mask while doing so?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic...

Your insurer won't be able weasel a way to drop you if you are chronically ill. Routine screening exams now will be provided without co-payments too...but that is a bad thing, right? These coverages kick in today.

Maybe Obama is right, maybe he needs to go out there and tell Americans what the party of no wants to say no about...again?

"On Thursday, the six-month anniversary of the signing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a number of its most central consumer protections take effect, just in time for the midterm elections.

Starting now, insurance companies will no longer be permitted to exclude children because of pre-existing health conditions, which the White House said could enable 72,000 uninsured to gain coverage. Insurers also will be prohibited from imposing lifetime limits on benefits.

The law will now forbid insurers to drop sick and costly customers after discovering technical mistakes on applications. It requires that they offer coverage to children under 26 on their parents’ policies.

It establishes a menu of preventive procedures, like colonoscopies, mammograms and immunizations, that must be covered without co-payments. And it allows consumers who join a new plan to keep their own doctors and to appeal insurance company reimbursement decisions to a third party."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/health/policy/23...

Christine O'Donnell had a Federal Tax Lien filed against her by the IRS (she claimed it was filed 'in error') and her home was in foreclosure proceedings last year before it was sold (she claimed it was bank error at one point and then changed it to a 'flat out lie' and finally to "I paid off all my debts".)

It also seems that she made only about $5,500 last year...was sued by her college for tuition and did not get her degree issued until 20 years later by finally paying them back and she sued a former employer for $7 million in a sex discrimination suit for 'mental anguish' but later dropped the suit...

This is an excellent article with copies of the Federal Tax Lien and the Mortgage Foreclosure filings by her bank:

http://www.delawaretomorrow.com/christine-odonnell...

Oh by the way, she was still listed as the head of the anti-masturbation organization S.A.L.T. as late as 2009....but that didn't stop her from saying today on NBC apparently it was a 'youthful' thing and she changed.

http://www.idealist.org/if/i/en/av/Org/18295-187/c

If she is able to explain away the lies will her behavior still be defensible?

Is he taking yet another ride on someone's private corporate jet--after already having taken 45 the past several years?

Is he going to golf at some posh golf resort on a lobbyist's tab or go to a posh beach resort this coming weekend all expenses paid?

Or, is he receiving campaign contributions this week from companies whose businesses are directly affected by the committees he chairs or sits on?

Or, is it that he is going to hand out tobacco lobbyist checks to his fellow Republicans on the floor of the House just before a vote on legislation affecting the tobacco industry again?

"...The top donor to Boehner's leadership PAC in 2003-2004 was SLM Corp., the Reston, Virginia-based student-loan company better known as Sallie Mae. SLM contributed $65,170 to Boehner's Freedom Project, more than twice as much as the second-biggest donor, New York-based Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The money came as the House Education and Workforce Committee, which Boehner chairs, prepared to write new legislation governing student loans.

In 1995, Boehner handed out campaign checks from the tobacco industry to members on the House floor at a time when lawmakers were considering eliminating a tobacco subsidy.

Representative Chris Shays, a Connecticut Republican, said he believes that Boehner is even closer to lobbyists than Blunt. ``The problem John faces is that he's so close to K Street; that's the challenge he's got,'' said Shays, who's backing Blunt...."

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive...

Who bought John Boehner this week? Do you know?

A recent question asked if Obama is envious of John Boehner.

I guess everyone should be envious of Mr. Boehner because how many of us would have the chutzpah to show utter contempt for Americans by handing out lobbyist checks from tobacco lobbyists to his fellow Republicans just prior to a vote on tobacco subsidies on the House floor?

Don't you think that you really need to be secure in your contempt and corruption to do that like Mr. Boehner did in 1996 and then to try to razz Obama about Goldman Sachs when it has been one of his key and largest donors for two decades?

"...The top donor to Boehner's leadership PAC in 2003-2004 was SLM Corp., the Reston, Virginia-based student-loan company better known as Sallie Mae. SLM contributed $65,170 to Boehner's Freedom Project, more than twice as much as the second-biggest donor, New York-based Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The money came as the House Education and Workforce Committee, which Boehner chairs, prepared to write new legislation governing student loans.

In 1995, Boehner handed out campaign checks from the tobacco industry to members on the House floor at a time when lawmakers were considering eliminating a tobacco subsidy.

Representative Chris Shays, a Connecticut Republican, said he believes that Boehner is even closer to lobbyists than Blunt. ``The problem John faces is that he's so close to K Street; that's the challenge he's got,'' said Shays, who's backing Blunt...."

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive...

Don't you think that you really must reek when one of your fellow Republican Congressmen says that you are too tied to lobbyists?

"...business as usual for Mr. Boehner, the House minority leader and would-be speaker if Republicans win the House in November. He maintains especially tight ties with a circle of lobbyists and former aides representing some of the nation’s biggest businesses, including Goldman Sachs, Google, Citigroup, R. J. Reynolds, MillerCoors and UPS.

They have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaigns over the years, provided him rides on their corporate jets, socialized with him at luxury golf resorts and waterfront bashes and are now leading fund-raising efforts for his Boehner for Speaker campaign, which is soliciting checks of up to $37,800 each, the maximum allowed....

...Mr. Boehner won some of his first national headlines back in 1996 after he was caught handing out checks from tobacco lobbyists to fellow Republicans on the House floor. Then the fourth-ranking House Republican, Mr. Boehner said he had broken no rules and was simply assisting his lobbyist friends, who were contributing to other Republicans’ campaigns.."

So...he will be looking out for all Americans if he is elected Speaker....right? :)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/us/pol%E2%80%A6

"...business as usual for Mr. Boehner, the House minority leader and would-be speaker if Republicans win the House in November. He maintains especially tight ties with a circle of lobbyists and former aides representing some of the nation’s biggest businesses, including Goldman Sachs, Google, Citigroup, R. J. Reynolds, MillerCoors and UPS.

They have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaigns over the years, provided him rides on their corporate jets, socialized with him at luxury golf resorts and waterfront bashes and are now leading fund-raising efforts for his Boehner for Speaker campaign, which is soliciting checks of up to $37,800 each, the maximum allowed....

...Mr. Boehner won some of his first national headlines back in 1996 after he was caught handing out checks from tobacco lobbyists to fellow Republicans on the House floor. Then the fourth-ranking House Republican, Mr. Boehner said he had broken no rules and was simply assisting his lobbyist friends, who were contributing to other Republicans’ campaigns.."

So...he will be looking out for all Americans if he is elected Speaker....right? :)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/us/politics/12bo...

So, if I was a right-winger I would be telling you all that George W. Bush is a secret muslim and a supporter of terrorists, right? :)

"The dinner follows in the tradition of former President George W. Bush, who held eight Ramadan dinners in office to stress that America’s war with violent extremists was not a war with Islam. Despite that outreach, Mr. Bush became a polarizing figure to many Muslims, in large part because of the Iraq war and his staunch support for Israel."

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/the-...

Presently all one needs to do to prove citizenship and the only ways one can prove citizenship is to produce a birth certificate or naturalization papers. To obtain a passport one must provide a birth certificate or naturalization papers so the Passport is not the answer and everyone doesn't have one anyway.

If you say, well they are citizens if their parents were, then how does one prove that ones parents were citizens if their birth certificates cannot be prima facie proof of citizenship?

So, tell me, if our birth certificates cannot prove citizenship, how do we prove it?

This ought to be interesting....

"...In late June, in Temecula, Calif., members of a local Tea Party group took dogs and picket signs to Friday prayers at a mosque that is seeking to build a new worship center on a vacant lot nearby...

...A Muslim community has been there for about 12 years and expanded to 150 families who have outgrown their makeshift worship space in a warehouse, said Mahmoud Harmoush, the imam, a lecturer at California State University, San Bernardino. The group wants to build a 25,000-square-foot center, with space for classrooms and a playground, on a lot it bought in 2000...

...an estimated 20 to 30 people who turned out to protest the mosque, including some who intentionally took dogs to offend those Muslims who consider dogs to be ritually unclean. But they were outnumbered by at least 75 supporters. The City of Temecula recently postponed a hearing on whether to grant the mosque a permit...."

How were the Tea Party supporters defending the Constitution by attempting to deny the free exercise of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment?

See article at link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/us/08mosque.html...