Vote on the March Badness Bracket - #9 (PA) Governor Tom Corbett http://www.marchbadness.org/?seed=9&rnd=4

Vote on the March Badness Bracket - #9 (PA) Governor Tom Corbett http://www.marchbadness.org/?seed=9&rnd=4

Iran Sanctions

The sanctions are piling on top of Iran, despite the fact that they still refuse to the nuclear program. The sanctions are set to begin on June 28th. These new sanctions prevent banks in countries that import Iranian oil from doing business here in America. And while there are 23 such countries, 11 are exempt because they are cutting back on imports from Iran. The president has said that there is enough oil outside of Iran that it won't affect oil supplies and United States allies. I wish to ask a question though: how can he believe that? Cutting off oil sales has yet to work. Combine that with  the fact that gas prices are continuing to spike, and someone like me just has to wonder if there's another way. And I'm not inclined to believe the politicians who say thats unlikely, because, let's face it, they are not experts.

"Frothy the Catholic"

It looks like the end for Rick "Frothy" Santorum. He's good in the South, sure, but he isn't winning any states that are important. He couldn't win in Michigan, he couldn't in Ohio, he couldn't in Illinois. These are all states that will be important. And now, in terms of actual delegates, as well as endorsements, he is screwed. Because Wisconsin is expected to go for Romney, what with Paul Ryan's endorsement. Plus, Wisconsin is a Democratic Stronghold, so it may very well be more moderate, which spells doom for a Santorum campaign. With that said, I hereby issue a call for him to get out of the race. The truth is, he cannot win.

Now, for the anxious people who say, what if?, I say this: IF he somehow wins, even by a difference of one delegate, I will retract my call, because it will show he may yet stand a chance. Plus, quite frankly, it would throw the party into confusion and give Obama a chance to boost his numbers.

Criticism for GOP

This time in the foreign policy department.  A nation security adviser to Jimmy Carter (Please wait before you comment) used the words "dangerous, embarrassing, and humiliating." He even went so far as to call them liars if they are just posturing, and idiots if they really believe these things. Now, I would just like to say that I would consider this much more news worthy if it had been, say, a Reagan adviser. However, the point being made, that we need an open dialogue, instead of just firing weapons, is very relevant. The last time we shot before asking questions, we got stuck in a ten year long war. So I do agree, but would like to qualify. If talking doesn't work, and we are attacked, then we fire back.

The Individaual Mandate: Or, How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Buying

It seems like the biggest hurdle to the Obama Health Care reform is this idea that a person must buy health insurance, AKA the individual mandate. Everyone, including me, complained that the idea of a person having to buy health insurance, or be penalized, was against freedom, was against what this country was founded on. Well, I would like to issue a mea culpa, an apology, if only on the grounds that this was not the first time this was proposed. For those of you who are wondering what the hell I'm talking about, just wait. Watching MSNBC, the story on The Rachael Maddow Show was about how an individual mandate was once....a conservative, Republican idea. Really? Turns out.....it was.  Remember "HillaryCare?" The idea that businesses just had to provide insurance? Republicans said no, it should be up to the INDIVIDUAL. The Heritage Foundation, the delight of conservatives, said that it was necessary. So what happened? As far as I can tell, a Democrat happened, and he just happens to be black. What I would like to know is, why is this so bad when proposed by a Democrat, and not when proposed by a Republican? And the next question I have is this: if a health insurance mandate is so bad, why is forcing people to buy car insurance OK? Why are we forced to wear seat belts? And yet, people don't call Republicans out for it. As George Carlin would have said, I'm just looking for a little consistency. So whats the Republican Plan? So far as I can tell, nonexistent. I have yet to hear them push another idea out there. Do I still disagree with an individual mandate. Yes. I would rather see it in the hands of businesses. I want there to be a government run program. I would be thrilled if we had a single payer system. But, in the interest of what can be done, this is a start. In a show of pragmatism, I will learn to live with an individual mandate.

Any one surprised? Nope.

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Whats new?

If, like me, you've been watching the Republican Nomination, fondly known as Operation Hilarity, you would have noticed several major changes since I've been gone. The first would be that several candidates have dropped out. Bachmann, Perry, Huntsman, Cain, Johnson, they are all gone. Johnson is now running as a Libertarian, which means he has no shot. Roseanne Barr is in as a Green candidate. Large name recognition, but on a third party, so again, no shot. The other thing you might have noticed, is that Santorum is picking up ground, while Romney seems to be losing it. This is not something I would have normally bet on. Now, lets see what else is new.

Glad to be back

Hello Boys and Girls!

I'm sorry I've been gone for so long. If you left, I cant blame you. If you're here, you're devoted. In that case, thanks.

Bachmann Strikes Again

Speaking of Right Wing Crazies, Michelle Bachmann is back in the news, handing over more ammo to people like me, people who think that she has a little (OK, a lot) of trouble keeping the facts straight. Three weeks ago, she said the HPV vaccine, used to prevent cervical cancer, can cause mental retardation. This time.she seems to be having trouble keeping info about our ECONOMY straight. I'm going to repeat that, it might be vaugely important. The woman who wants to be in charge of the ECONOMY can't even get facts about it in the states right. She was in Sioux City, Iowa, it was like any other town hall. Talk about why she should be elected, make Obama one termer, take questions. She was asked about the Keystone Pipeline, a proposal that would create an oil pipeline between Alberta, Canada and Texas. She spoke in support of it and then made her mistake. She "heard" that North Dakota "is the only nation running a surplus, because they were using their resources." The first part makes me a little nervous, if only because that makes it seem like she doesn't even have a clue about the makeup of the country. But North Dakota was one of FOUR STATES to make a surplus. Her spokeswoman said that the point was that Ms. Bachmann views energy in terms of economics, while the President views it as environmental. My question is, why can't it be both? I believe green energy could create just as many jobs and oil does. Eventually, in fact, green jobs may outnumber oil. The problem with her latest statement is, she's repeating all these things that seem pretty easy to verify. So why doesn't she? Is she forgetful? Or is she, perhaps, in the same line as every other politician: the line of misinformation, of spinning? One can only wonder if she is the right choice for America.

Herman Cain

How many would have guessed that a former pizza business CEO with no political experience would be picking up steam in the primaries? But those are the strange times we live in, where everyone is so frustrated with the elected officials who don't do anything, they'll take anything. Including, judging from his past statements, a right winger with a couple of conspiracy theories. Starting with an interview he gave to the Wall Street Journal, in which he said the protests against Wall Street were organized to distract from Obama's failing's as a president. But then he took it a step farther and said that if you are poor, and you have no job, you have only yourself to blame. Not Wall Street, and not the big banks, because God knows that they were angels, with their subprime mortgages and extensive loaning to anyone with a pulse. Nope, it is all your fault. As a person with no job, I think I have the right to say: this guy is an idiot. First of all, it flies in the face of the truth: that because of the banks and Wall Street selling these risky loans and what not, we had a financial catastrophe. Said catastrophe caused millions of people to get laid off/fired. It also had to have increased the number of poor people out there. But Cain seems to think the catastrophe of the past is over. this jackass doesn't seem to realize that even though it happened three years ago, we are still feeling the effects now.

Meantime, his tax plan isn't that great either. Cain has been touting a nine percent flat income tax, nine percent national sales tax, and scrapping the rest of the code. Michael Linden of the  Center for American Progress ran the numbers. As it turns out, not only does the "9-9-9" tax hurt poor people more, it doesn't come anywhere near raising the same amount of revenues that the current tax code does. It would only raise 1.3 trillion dollars. Sounds like a lot, right? Turns out, that is only 9.2% of our Gross Domestic Product. We collected twice of that in 2007. So Herman Cain cut revenues in half. And even if we somehow cut spending to the "historic average", we would have deficits that are 11 percent of GDP, which is bigger than any since WW2. Hell, that's more than the past three years! The poor, who currently pay 2 percent in tax would see a jump to 18 percent (Nine percent on income, 9 percent on spending). Middle classers, what's left of them, can expect an increase from 14 to 18 percent. And the rich? Theirs would go from 28 to 11 percent. This is just one more example of the lack of reality on the Republican side. And, as Meg Ryan might say, "Instead of a brain, you have a cash register. Instead of a heart, a bottom line."

New Jobs plan

As everyone knows, the President is supposed to be coming up with a jobs plan. The White House, of course, says there are some new ideas at the table. The plan is expected to cost anywhere from 300 to 400 billion dollars, which would be paid for by closing tax loopholes and raising the wealthiest people's tax rate. I see a problem already: the Republican Party, as it stands right now, is far too much to the right. They will view any loophole closing as a tax increase. Therefore, this plan has a limited chance of passing. Among the things being considered is an extension of the payroll tax cut, which cuts 2 percent off the amount employees pay into social security. that's not much, but it will add up. Also included is money to extend unemployment benefits, as well as 150 billion on infrastructure. Among the new ideas getting tossed around are tax cuts for companies that hire Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, tax cuts for hiring those who have been unemployed for a long time. Now, the question is whether or not it will work. Many economists believe that it isn't big enough. And therein lies another problem: if he takes a stand for anything bigger, he'll get shut down. So, don't expect to any growth, or jobs, for a long time.

Florida welfare requirements

Florida has just passed a law that is, in my estimate, common sense and should be the law of the land: welfare recipients in the state of Florida must pass a drug test. However, the ACLU says this is a violation of their constitutional rights, namely, the right preventing unreasonable search and seizures. However, the ACLU fails to realize that welfare is, in itself, a warrant to find if they are addicted to drugs. Because if they are, we don't know that welfare will not go for drugs. The tests are around 35 dollars, but the person will be reimbursed if they come back negative.

Michelle on the Environment

While we are talking about Michelle Bachmann, it is importent to talk about the fact that she has admitted to considering drilling in the Everglades if it meant getting us off the dependance on oil. She also claims to want to do it without harming the environment. I can already point out some hypocrisy: she has admitted to wanting to shut down the EPA, because it "kills jobs." Instead, she wants to rely on a panel of experts in order to figure out if it's safe to drill somewhere. Question: what good are jobs if you die from health problems, which could have been prevented by environmental protection? So why should a person care? I had to look for the facts on this one, and here they are: The Everglades are a watershed. For those of you who didn't major in science, watersheds are basically a system of water flowing to and from a basin. So why should people care if something happens to the everglades? First of all, as a watershed, it prevents flooding. Secondly, it supplies water. Which means, if you drill there, and something goes wrong, the water becomes toxic, which means no drinking and no bathing. People would have to relocate. So what could go wrong? A leak, a spill, an explosion, all these things. I point at the Deepwater Horizon and say "That's what could happen." This is very irresponsible of her, and I hope she reconsiders.

More immigration bills are passed...

But, as Alabama will tell you, that doesn't necessarily mean they will go into effect anytime soon. U.S. Judge Sharon Blackburn was lobbied by church leaders, the Justice Department, and the ACLU. In a two page order, Ms. Blackburn has said that she is stopping it because there was no time to go over the legality and constitutionality of the bill. The bill does the basics, such as checking on those who are suspected of being immigrants, but it also goes further. Under this law, the status of school students will also be questioned. I think we need to ask for clarification here. Are the students in question children of illegals? Were these children born in the U.S.? If so, then they cannot be deported due to the 14th Amendment. State officials have been saying that undocumented immigrants would still have access to education in public schools. But I highly doubt the schools are as good in the country they get deported back to.

Hurricane Jokes

Leave it to a Republican to make "jokes" about Hurricane Irene. It should come as no surprise to anyone that the person who made the joke is Michelle Bachmann, who is currently running for the Presidency. Bachmann suggested that the disasters were happening because Washington was not listening to voters, and continuing spending. If it is a joke, I am less than amused. I believe this is a horrible lack of empathy for the people that she hopes to lead. This had no business being thought, let alone said. The Tea Party wishes to elect someone who obviously doesn't care. It is for this, amongst other reasons, that I label Mrs. Bachmann a "fail." She should not be nominated, and if she is, Democrats will, in my opinon, hold the White House. As they so obviously should.

The GOP has a gay candidate?

Yep, and I can guarantee you have never heard of him. His name is Fred Karger, the first openly gay person to run on any party. So how come we haven't heard of this man? Well, the media isn't helping matters. He was excluded at the Iowa GOP debate, and there is a good chance he will be at the next debate on September 7th, at the Reagan Library. So what is he running on? He wants to eliminate the Defense of Marriage Act, increase finding cures and vaccines for HIV/AIDS, get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, lower the voting age, and legalize Marijuana, as well as tax it. These are just a few of his platform pieces, and I do support some of his goals. However, whether I would support his candidacy is something else. I will put in an update when I have decided. In the meantime, to get an idea of some of his other positions, I would recommend going to fredkarger.com and click on issues.

Are you happy with the debt deal?

Most Republicans aren't. Some have gone so far as to air this displeasure, including Bobby Jindal, the Governor of Louisiana. Mr. Jindal apparently believes that compromise is to be avoided, saying that the "press roots for it..." Damn straight we do. Compromise is a sign of willing to work for the greater good. But that doesn't fit in with the extremists in the Party. He has even gone so far as to say the idea of default was overblown. Was it really? Without a debt limit increase, we wouldn't be able to pay bills. Debt would pile up, our credit rating would go down, we'd end up paying even more on our outstanding bills.  So, to me, it was, and still is, a very real possibility. He also went so far as to say the Wall Street traders, who still vote Republican, for some reason, would call for raising the debt limit. That's because they would lose money otherwise. And now, a couple of questions for Mr. Jindal. First off, why not compromise? It'd would make you look like you aren't being held hostage by the base. You would bring in the moderates, which would help your political prospects. So why not compromise? The second question is for all Republicans who think there was no chance of defaulting: What if you are wrong? Would you be willing to stake money, the lower classes jobs, YOUR jobs, and who knows what else on something like that? I don't think you would. Just one more sign that the Republican Party is not looking out for us.

Rush Limbaugh is a Metorologist!?

And if you want to see the further disconnect between conservatism and sanity, there is no need to look and further than everyone's favorite, Rush Limbaugh. This man, Rush, has said, albeit last month, that there is no extreme heat. No extreme heat, it's all because of that heat index, which is how hot it feels when you add in the humidity. I hate to say this....no that's no true. I'll enjoy saying this. I don't know any weather group that has been saying the heat index is the real temperature. You go to weather.com, and pull up current temperatures. As of 6:15 p.m., much of the South has been having temperatures over 100 degrees, for over a month in a row. At 6 P.M., and this is the man who claims there is no heat wave. Of course there's no heat wave, Rush, you get to sit in an air conditioned building! Jeremiah Morris just dropped dead while running in Kansas City, Missouri's "Warrior Dash." So what if his temperature got as high as 111 degrees and he had organ damage. His 29th birthday will be his memorial service, but of course there's no heat wave! 12 other people had to go to the hospital, but it wasn't because of the heat! There's probably going to be blackouts from all the people running there air conditions, but they are just doing it for the hell of it, because there's no heat wave! It was 114 degrees in Arkansas, but that's normal for the time of year! DonTeria Searcy and Forrest Jones passed out at football practice in Atlanta and and Florida, but there's no heat wave! Wade McLain, a 55 year old from Texas passed out during football practice, and the medical examiners decided it was from heat. What the hell do they know, they're just professionals. There's no heat wave! Rush, thank you. I'm so glad you could set us all straight on this.

Republicans on the Slur

Just when I thought the Republican Party couldn't go any further out of its mind, I found just how wrong I was. Doug Lamborn, of Colorado, was on a radio show, giving an interview, when he said, "Even if some...say 'Well, the Republicans should have done this...or that,' they will still hold the president responsible. I don't even want to be associated with him. It's like touching a tar baby....you're stuck and you're a part of the problem now..." How many get the tar baby reference? For those who don't, it has two connotations. The first one, the one I have heard of, is a reference to the Uncle Remus stories of B'rer Fox building a tar baby to catch B'rer Rabbit. The other, which I had never before heard, is a derogatory reference to an African American. While he is not the First Republican to use the phrase (Mitt Romney and John McCain did as well), he is the first one that I know of to refer to the President of the United States in this way. He did end up issuing an apology that, to me, isn't a real one at all. He said that he was sorry and that he shouldn't have used a term that "some may find insensitive." Let's ignore the fact he's a politician for a second. To me, it's not genuine because he did not say he found it offensive, but that some may. He then went on to say that he was criticizing the policies. The context, however, doesn't seem to fit that idea. The President has not commented.

Bachmann for President?

The woman at the head of the Tea Party Caucus has been touring nonstop, it seems. And at all her stops, from Iowa to South Carolina, she has been easily gathering the conservative support that will be of the utmost necessity, should she choose to run. And, like Obama before her, she is going grassroots. the only real difference is that Obama didn't court those who were silent during the Bush spending, but decided to start whining once he took over. Hypocrisy, nice to meet you. She may be able to draw crowds, but she can also do something else: make gaffes that makes Sarah Palin look like a genius in comparison. (There's something I never thought that I would be would be saying.) Let's start with the most recent example: while in New Hampshire, she said that the American Revolution started in Lexington and Concord, New Hampshire. All right, geography students, where's Lexington and Concord? I hope to god you said Massachusetts, because that's correct. Bachmann walked it back, but the fact that she made that mistake makes one wonder why she feels so qualified. And that's only the tip of the iceberg. In 2003, she wrote a Christmas letter, in which she talked about...how her children would make good spouses. Instead of, say, Jesus, or family events. Nope, Christmas is apparently about pimping out your kids. In July of 2007, she, among other Representatives, went to Iraq. And while most came back, with doubts, (i.e., the smart ones, or sane ones) she came back more convinced than ever that they were doing right. Also, she compared the Mall of America to Saddam Hussein's palace, size wise. Yes, a dictator leaves in the Mall of America and uses chemical weapons on the citizens. Last month, she accused Keith Ellison, a fellow Representative, of consorting with terrorists. Did I mention that he's a Muslim? Yep, apparently being a Muslim automatically makes you a terrorist. Plus she has a gay stepsister she failed to mention. So, she has no idea on geography, no honesty, and no sense of what not to say. And you conservatives want to hand control of the country to her?  Please, have mercy on us.