Tag Archives: Government

meep Monday & Fall/Winter landed


Fall and Winter have just landed … dodging the various puddles and or rain swells as well as some power outages but definitely not like other parts of the country …sigh***

President Obama is back in campaign mode after just one day of rest….

***Reports are that Mitch McConnell says his number one objective is to defeat Barack Obama …saying he is a one term President. Is this what independents want because if they stay home or vote for Republicans it will definitely end our move toward the 21st Century that we have been avoiding. The fact is Republicans created this deficit and  more Republicans in Congress means no compromising or cooperating with President Obama after the November midterm elections. It is safe to say knowing Republicans have no plans no solutions to offer Americans except keeping the house of Bush tax giveaways and investing more money in military defense means this report sounds like the truth though definitely un-American if you ask me.

It is important to remind folks that the mid-term elections have become a national event so be angry be critical be pro-active and make your democratic member of Congress hear you but do not vote against your best interest just because you are pissed and while the emphasis has been “the change we can believe in.” It is also important to know that this is the year of redistricting and this will affect all of our lives so vote for the Democratic Party knowing change is hard but consider the alternative if Republicans take over.

The media noise, the various levels of the truth and or overt lack of information given by talking heads to those trying to make up their minds to vote at all let alone which side of the aisle they prefer, you get the impression that folks out there are confused. I get being angry about the lack of cooperation from Republicans or the lack of movement to get the country back to work. When I hear folks on various media platforms say, they are mad that the stimulus did nothing i get pissed. It is obvious some folks have not been listening or are too gullible if they believe the BS coming out of limbaugh, steele, palin, cantor, mcconnell and others from the right. It is obvious these folks are hoping you either have no idea what is going on, have forgotten, or are so partisan you will go along with the program no matter what because you believe the change is going to threaten your lifestyle, which is just nonsensical.

In other News, The President, contrary to what Herald Ford said on meet the press tried bipartisanship though Republicans played games the entire time so his comments that this president has to hit the reset button of reconciliation if i understood  him correctly was a surprising if not silly comment. It begs more questioning about where he was for the last 20 months because the President often leaned to the right while democrats were screaming that Republicans have no intention of cooperating. The decisive moment came when McConnell, Cantor, and others got on camera promising not only the President but also the American public they would read, offer alternatives, listen, and consider the HCR bill while telling their colleagues all along to just say no to HCR. The action was despicable, offensive and undermined what most of us grew up thinking how democracy worked.

If talking heads are correct about the lack of democrats participating in the mid-term elections and Republicans take over and rule the House, the gridlock everyone thought was bad will become a nightmare if the crazy tea party members of the Republican party are able to push their family values platform regime on us. Is it so hard to understand that the financial crisis did not just appear out of the blue or the fact that President Obama did not create it. The house of Bush and his crew knew the economic collapse was coming far ahead of it’s inception decided to wait to announce it until the last minute but so many out there have forgotten the particulars maybe some of the information was left out. I remember McCain babble about how our economy is fundamentally sound while Obama was stating we have to look at it from all angles and if anyone had concrete ideas or solutions that seemed better than his, he would listen and Congress needed to work together at this time of crisis. The financial crisis was and still is a non-partisan reality and though the recession was deemed over, it just does not feel like it. It is still a reality to most of the middle class and has been used, abused, and manipulated by Republicans who blocked, stalled, and scale down true efforts to bring us out of the financial ditch, improve our status but in their effort to take back their county Republicans have done whatever is necessary to hold the middle class hostage.

I would like to know if Republicans will incite more wars, give more tax cuts to the rich, sit on their money, trade with other companies or send it overseas. The Bush tax giveaways to the rich did not save jobs or create new jobs contrary to what folks on the right would have us all believe. Wall Street has proved they cannot be trusted; the banks and the AIG types have jumped on the i will say one thing to the President and the American public but continue business as per usual which still has jobs being outsourced to Mexico and China. If you watch the Kudlow show you will see one CEO after another seemingly boasting how they are getting over on the American people because they are not just outsourcing for cheaper wage earners they think the US will eventually beat down the unions and wages will have to be lowered especially if Republicans manage to repeal the minimum wage… hey, Google your Republican member of Congress and find out exactly  where and what they stand for… you might have a rude awakening because Republicans don’t seem to want to help their fellow American on any level which is just more of the house of Bush days.  We all need to remind Independents that Bush did not seem interested in fixing any domestic problems but waging two wars and giving out two huge tax giveaways to the rich seemed important to him and his party will continue to neglect the middle and lower class putting profits over people.

How a Bill Becomes a Law <<<click on link

When performing legislative research, it is important to understand the legislative process. The numerous steps that result in a bill becoming a law are described in this 24th edition of “How Our Laws Are Made.”

 

 

NATIONAL SECURITY Getting Progressive On Afghanistan


Despite being engaged in an intense fight in Afghanistan and still having 50,000 troops in Iraq, this election cycle promises to be the first since 2000 in which national security issues have a small role. In an op-ed in the New York Times on Monday, NBC’s Tom Brokaw wrote, “[N]otice anything missing on the campaign landscape? How about the war?” Brokaw concludes the reason for the wars’ absence is not just because the economy is on the forefront of people’s minds, but because Americans can also opt out of serving in the military and therefore are impacted less by these conflicts. While Brokaw touched on a key point, his conclusion is only half the answer. It is also that both Republicans and Democrats are deciding not to make the wars an issue. Americans after all know how they feel about the wars — they want them to end. This has put the candidates in an awkward position. For Republicans, their long held advocacy of an endless unconditional commitment to both wars is deeply unpopular and is therefore avoided on the campaign trail. While some of the new Tea Party candidates have balked at an endless military commitment, they have provided no alternative approach, leaving many with an utterly incoherent position. For many Democrats taking their cue from the Obama administration, the uncertainty and division over the July 2011 deadline to begin withdrawal from Afghanistan has left them without a clear message. Democratic political consultants have also long guided candidates away from talking about national security issues, but just as in 2006 and 2008, it is past time that progressives argue forcefully for sticking to the timeline for withdrawal. While the economy is clearly the dominant issue in this election, the United States is still sending its children to fight and die in a conflict that increasingly appears to be going nowhere. It is wrong for progressives not to speak up on these issues during the election season, especially when calling for a withdrawal is not only right, but it’s popular.

ENDLESS WAR: Republican leaders, such as Sen. John McCain (AZ), the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin have long argued for an endless commitment to both Iraq and Afghanistan. Republicans are largely opposed to setting a timeline for withdrawal based on the argument that the enemy will “wait us out” — despite the fact that this fear never materialized in Iraq. Regardless, the only argument most Republicans are making on Afghanistan is for staying indefinitely. But they are not making these statements on the campaign trail. The recent Republican “Pledge for America” almost essentially ignored Iraq and Afghanistan. This is not surprising considering the standard GOP position of endless war is deeply unpopular with the American public. Polling clearly shows that Americans are overwhelmingly in favor of withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan. A recent CNN poll found that 58 percent of Americans oppose the war in Afghanistan. The New York Times/CBS poll found that: “Americans’ assessments of the war are grim. A majority in the Times/CBS News Poll said the United States should not be involved in Afghanistan now, up 15 percentage points since December. And most said the war was going badly, down from its peak but well above the reading in the early years of the war, when broad majorities said it was going well.”

GOP INCOHERENCE: There is currently no Republican counter-plan for Afghanistan and the emergence of Tea Party candidates has only made Republican positions more incoherent. While the issue of Afghanistan is largely being avoided, when it is talked about by conservative candidates much of what is said is completely incoherent. Many Tea Party-backed candidates are instinctively opposed to an endless commitment or engaging in nation-building, but they are also against withdrawing U.S. forces.  For instance, on NBC’s Meet the Press last Sunday, Republican candidate for Senate in Colorado Ken Buck was asked about the war in Afghanistan and provided a completely muddled answer. “Well, I, I don’t think we set artificial deadlines. I think that we, we set realistic goals, and, and we try to accomplish those goals. I don’t think we should be nation-building, I don’t think we should be staying there over the long-term,” he said. In four sentences, Buck noted that he is not just against a timeline for withdrawal, but he is also against the mission of building an Afghan state, which is the whole objective of top commander Gen. Petraeus’ counter-insurgency strategy. The Denver Post recently editorialized: “Buck’s critics now call his tap dance ‘Buckpedaling.’ … His position on Afghanistan has morphed so much it’s almost incoherent.” But Buck is not unique. Delaware GOP Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell offered similarly disjointed comments in a debate last week about Afghanistan. Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele even said that Afghanistan was “a war of Obama’s choosing” despite the fact that it began in October, 2001.

SPEAKING UP: The Obama administration’s troop increase in Afghanistan has not as of yet produced long term results. Bob Woodward’s recent book reveals clear divisions within the Obama administration over the Afghanistan strategy, especially over the interpretation of the July 2011 deadline. While it is common for members of the same party to follow their party’s leader on foreign policy issues, especially when that leader is the President, progressives should take a clear stand on the war in Afghanistan. This Sunday, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), who is in a tough political fight and is from a state with a large military population, appeared on Meet the Press and articulated a clear progressive position: “My position is that we ought to begin bringing our troops home in July ’11. And there will be troops there, they’ll have to leave troops there, and I recognize that. But this is the longest shooting war in our country’s history. … [W]hat I want to make clear is that I believe the President needs to honor the commitment that he made to begin bringing our troops home.” Other progressive candidates should follow Bennet’s lead. As Caroline Wadhams of the Center for American Progress wrote, “it is essential that President Barack Obama give this country and the world a clearer sense of how long it will take to draw down American troops in Afghanistan. … [W]e believe ambiguity is becoming counterproductive.”

Google -Official blog



More transparency and control over location 

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 11:10 AM PDT

We’ve always focused on offering people the most relevant results. Location is one important factor we’ve used for many years to customize the information that you find. For example, if you’re searching for great restaurants, you probably want to find ones near you, so we use location information to show you places nearby. 

Today we’re moving your location setting to the left-hand panel of the results page to make it easier for you to see and control your preferences. With this new display you’re still getting the same locally relevant results as before, but now it’s much easier for you to see your location setting and make changes to it.

Your location setting is now always visible on the left side of the search results page.

We do our best to automatically detect the most useful location, but we don’t always get it right—so in some cases you’ll want to change the setting. At other times, you may want to change your location to explore information relevant to another area. For example, let’s say you’re at work in Mountain View and you’re making plans to see a movie in San Francisco (a common occurrence here at Google). You can change your location to “San Francisco” and search for [showtimes] to find movie listings in San Francisco or search for [restaurants] to find places to eat before the show. Similarly, if you’re planning a trip to Hawaii, you can change the location to “Honolulu” and start exploring the [weather], [hotels] and of course the [beaches]. The location you set can be as specific as a particular zip code or as general as an entire country, but more specific settings generally lead to better search results.

Click “Change location” to specify your location preference.

You used to be able to see and control your location settings, but it was a little clunky. To see your settings, you could click “View customizations” on the results page and to modify them you could click “Change location” next to a variety of search results, such as maps and movie listings. As time has gone by, more and more locally relevant information has come online, whether it’s local business listings or a blog from your hometown. Meanwhile, Google has become much better at presenting this locally relevant content—so it felt like the right time to make this setting easier to find.

The new interface is rolling out now and will be available in more than 40 languages soon. We’re not changing anything about how we use location information to improve search, so it doesn’t change our existing privacy policies. To learn more about our new interface and how we use location in search, check out our help center.

Posted by Mack Lu, Associate Product Manager

Weekend review &some News -The Heritage Foundation


 

 

 

***Lately, cableheads have been giving out sources for their various claims with the preface of who and where they got their accurate, good or great News info lately and for a news junkie it slightly amused me, definitely annoyed me so the rant is on. I watch and listen to all things Political on the tele but i rarely feel any group, single person or guest on cable is truly giving me the truth.  It is all opinion News and while we all know this the News just seems different  since the first African-American President was elected by 53%. I get the impression from some stations that they are still having a tough time with it and quite possibly the stations who probably are folks leaning to the right of all issues paying folks to those of us left of center tidbits that seems reasonable, fair and balance though i still am not drinking the kool-aid. If you are paying attention you hear what talkingheads consider then spew the news over the course of a 15minute set and all of a sudden a jab, a knock or personal complaint is thrown at President Obama or “The Government” without naming names… which is not just offensive to me but the viewer should get it most cableheads lean right .

The article below was first written February of 2009. I only included a portion of it, so if you want to read the complete article i guess you have to go to their website but it is apparent the article was intended for fellow members of the Heritage Foundation. The problem for me is that this group was on just about every News station all during the 2008 election campaign  giving out information that the public was asked to absorb and believe as the truth …We are now about 2 years later and while they are not on main stream tv as much the rhetoric has become nastier and they  have taken to CSPAN with what I consider dangerous rhetoric.   The point is that the Heritage Foundation is not a neutral organization as many have claimed and even ed shultz had to question their intent last week as well as a few other cableheads.  If you are listening to Republicans on any given day on any talk show all you hear are talking points given to them by the Heritage Foundation and these candidates are spewing them almost verbatim…it is offensive. This article grabbed my attention in 2/2009 and it just keeps being played over and over verbally by the right even now.

Welfare Spendathon

Stimulus Bill Abolishes Welfare Reform and Adds New Welfare Spending …

by Robert E. Rector and Katherine Bradley … To heritage foundation members

But overturning welfare reform is just the beginning. In his recent press conference, President Obama explained that the stimulus bill would provide “tax relief” and “direct investment” in infrastructure. He neglected to mention that of the $816 billion in new spending and tax cuts in the House stimulus bill–32 percent or $264 billion–is new means-tested welfare spending, providing cash, food, housing, and medical care to poor and low income Americans.[5] (The figure in the Senate bill is about 15 percent lower.)

I have to ask is what the Heritage Foundation saying truly an American attitude?

jus sayin

Other News …

UW Husky -35  Oregon -34 Dbl OT

Did you know that Olympic College in Wa.State decided they did not like the 1st amendment so they banned it… when will this action be challenged?

Several Hilton Hotels are experiencing worker strikes -3rd day of strikes

11thousand cribs, made in China have rail hardware problems sold in JCP 2003-2007 models

NOW backs candidate Jerry Brown for Gov of California

Candidate Conway Vs. Rand Paul live on CSPAN at 7pm ET

Federal Tax Credit for improvements ends on 12/31

The debate: Sen. Patty Murray V Dino Rossi at 7pm on komo4 online: komonews.com

President Obama and Mrs. O will be in Ohio campaigning

 

CSPAN …

Texas Book Festival 2010 Texas Book Festival 2010
Saturday
Weekly Addresses Weekly Addresses
Saturday
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to the Commonwealth Club of California Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to the Commonwealth Club of California
Friday
Pres. Obama & Vice Pres. Biden Remarks at Chris Coons (D) Campaign Event Pres. Obama & Vice Pres. Biden Remarks at Chris Coons (D) Campaign Event
Friday
Hudson Institute Discussion on U.S.-Japan Relations Hudson Institute Discussion on U.S.-Japan Relations
Friday
Fed Chair Ben Bernanke Addresses Boston Fed. Reserve Conference Fed Chair Ben Bernanke Addresses Boston Fed. Reserve Conference
Friday
Fmr. Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice Remarks at National Press Club Luncheon Fmr. Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice Remarks at National Press Club Luncheon
Friday
CSIS Discussion on the Year Ahead in Space CSIS Discussion on the Year Ahead in Space
Friday
Urban Land Institute Conference on the Real Estate Market & the Economy Urban Land Institute Conference on the Real Estate Market & the Economy
Friday

Heroes


Anthony Weiner - Newsletter

Click here to sign our petition.When you hear the cough of someone in New York caused by toxic dust from September 11, everyone knows it. These are the people that rushed to the scene to help any way they could, and because of their heroic actions, too many of them are now sick or even dying.

After political back-and-forth, we finally passed a bill in the House to pay for the healthcare these people need. Now we need the Senate to do the same thing. We have an obligation to step up for these Americans the way they stepped up for us.

I’m asking you to do one thing: sign my petition to put pressure on the Senate to pass our House bill quickly. We can’t let first responders go another day without the healthcare they deserve.

Click here to tell the Senate to swiftly pass our bill to fund healthcare for September 11 first responders. We made a commitment that we would never forget that horrific day nine years ago, and this is how we can show them we have not.

The House’s passage was a long-awaited first step towards getting heroic Americans the care and support they undeniably deserve. Now, we need to make sure it sees the light of day in the Senate.

We’ve seen the Senate become a final resting place for too many good bills recently, and we need to band together to make sure this bill becomes law.

Click here to send a clear message to your senators: if you’re a politician who stands up each year in remembrance of September 11, now is the time to follow through on your word. First responders are counting on us in the same way we counted on them.

After nearly a decade passed, the House did the right thing — but it’s not enough. We need the Senate to pass this crucial legislation to provide treatment to over 71,000 people exposed to dangerous toxins on the scene.

Thanks,
Anthony