Nightly News Roundup

ABC: Cheney makes the understatement of his political career

CBS: Obama pledges to do what Elmer Fudd couldn’t

NBC: Steve Jobs is not an android…yet

Maine Supports Civil Rights For All

Great news today if you are in favor of civil rights for all couples regardless of sexual orientation. A new bill has been introduced in the Maine State House today by Sen. Dennis Damon (D-Hancock). The bill entitled “An Act to Prevent Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom” will extend civil marriage rights to same sex couples here in Maine. It is a small step, but a positive one. I’ll keep everyone posted on any further developments. Here is the complete story at Equality Maine.

Plumber Watch ’09 UPDATE

Just when I think I’m out, they pull me back in. I think I have become addicted to the steady self-destruction of Joe the Plumber. I found a new little nugget from Joe Tuesday evening. It’s so sad I’ve just got to post the whole thing.

“You don’t need to see what’s happening every day, that’s my personal opinion, you don’t have to share it. But, you know, okay, you don’t have to see, you know, 800 dead, 801 dead. It’s like they drill that in your head. … They want you to sit there saying there are so many people dying. You know these are large, these are numbers, you know I don’t want to take away from that. Let me, uh, think about how to say that again. Just essentially, they keep drilling it into your head, newscast after newscast after newscast.

I think the military should decide what information to give the media and then the media can release it to the public. I don’t believe they need to be in the front lines with soldiers, I don’t believe they need to, uh, you know, be bothering the military for information or for access to certain areas.”

Yes Joe, it is so horrible that we remind the American public that war has actual consequences. That those numbers are people who wont be able to do the Israeli or Palestinian equivalent of eating chips and watching NASCAR all day. They wont be able to practice their jobs illegally either. I’m sorry everyone. These numbers were real people. I don’t want to tarnish the lives of people I never even saw by relating them to a village idiot that I have unfortunately heard far too much from.

I wont even begin to comment on the second piece. It is just too idiot and far too flawed. I think I may gnaw my fingers off from frustration with its unbelievable…something. See, I am already at a loss for words to describe the hideous things that comment makes me feel.

Here’s a link to the whole video. Caution, you do have to register with PajamasTV in order to view the video. I’m not sure anyone in their right mind wants their name associated with the organization anymore. Sign up at your own risk!

Plumber Watch ’09 UPDATE

Just when I think I’m out, they pull me back in. I think I have become addicted to the steady self-destruction of Joe the Plumber. I found a new little nugget from Joe Tuesday evening. It’s so sad I’ve just got to post the whole thing.

“You don’t need to see what’s happening every day, that’s my personal opinion, you don’t have to share it. But, you know, okay, you don’t have to see, you know, 800 dead, 801 dead. It’s like they drill that in your head. … They want you to sit there saying there are so many people dying. You know these are large, these are numbers, you know I don’t want to take away from that. Let me, uh, think about how to say that again. Just essentially, they keep drilling it into your head, newscast after newscast after newscast.

I think the military should decide what information to give the media and then the media can release it to the public. I don’t believe they need to be in the front lines with soldiers, I don’t believe they need to, uh, you know, be bothering the military for information or for access to certain areas.”

Yes Joe, it is so horrible that we remind the American public that war has actual consequences. That those numbers are people who wont be able to do the Israeli or Palestinian equivalent of eating chips and watching NASCAR all day. They wont be able to practice their jobs illegally either. I’m sorry everyone. These numbers were real people. I don’t want to tarnish the lives of people I never even saw by relating them to a village idiot that I have unfortunately heard far too much from.

I wont even begin to comment on the second piece. It is just too idiot and far too flawed. I think I may gnaw my fingers off from frustration with its unbelievable…something. See, I am already at a loss for words to describe the hideous things that comment makes me feel.

Here’s a link to the whole video. Caution, you do have to register with PajamasTV in order to view the video. I’m not sure anyone in their right mind wants their name associated with the organization anymore. Sign up at your own risk!

The Libertarians Were Going To Come Save Us, But They Thought We Should Learn How To Fix The Economy Ourselves.

Libertarianism…I figured someone would bring that up eventually, other than the fine folks at Reason Magazine that is. Oh that delightful belief that we can solve everything by doing nothing. Well, I read an article the other day stating that libertarianism, mostly its tenant of little to no government regulation, will provide a viable and needed alternative to what the “big government” Obama administration plans to attempt. While I certainly agree Libertarianism has its time and place to be useful, now is neither. Wasn’t 8 years of Bush style Libertarian polices enough?

Bush was no Libertarian you say. On matters such as wiretapping of US citizens, LGBT rights, and stem cell research, the Bush administration operated in a hands on matter to understate the issue. When Bush applied a little Libertarianism the results were utter failure.

Concerning Iraq, the Bush administration favored using contractors rather than government military personal for many positions. A Libertarian would argue here that this would be favorable. Opening the market to many different bidders should allow the government to have the job for the best price by the best workers. That didn’t happen. Companies gouged the government, going way over schedule and way over budget. The government has found much of the building contractors are doing to be well below standards. And of course there is the whole Haliburton mess. KBR, which was a subsidy of Hal, has $2.7 Billion in undocumented spending. They supplied our fighting men and women with unsafe drinking water and faulty electrical work that led to troop deaths. KBR still operates in Iraq. Who picks up the tab? I’m sure you can guess.

How about health care? According to a recent article in the Atlantic in 2000 there were 39.8 million Americans without health insurance. By 2007 the number had swollen to 45.7 million. Health care premiums rose from $6,438 per year to $12,680 per year from 2000 to 2008. Could this have all stemmed from the Libertarian approach to letting the markets sort out health care the Bush administration took?

“Perhaps the most puzzling abdication was the GOP failure to do anything at all on health care. The window for saving private health care from government encroachment is closing, and both business and workers are feeling the pinch from rising costs. Yet Republicans failed to make health-care savings accounts more attractive, failed to let business associations offer their own health plans, and failed even to bring to a vote Arizona Congressman John Shadegg’s bill to avoid costly state mandates by letting health insurance be marketed across state boundaries.”

They missed their chance to fix health care without “big government” stepping in. By taking such an extreme hands off approach to health care, the Bush administration pretty much secured the need for government to step in and solve the issue.

Of course we can’t forget the current economic crisis; really how can we forget. While a few hard right free market groups will slap your mouth if they hear you blame deregulation for the crisis, most will agree that deregulation or at least a lack of regulation is at least partly to blame. The government did not prevent the sale of the toxic mortgages which started this whole mess. When the bubble was about to burst the Federal Reserve did not react accordingly. Had Fed Chair Alan Greenspan only identified the bubble the public perception of the housing market would have altered and the crisis would have been averted or at least contained. Lack of regulation on mortgage qualifications, loan risk assessments, and predatory lending ultimately pushed the crisis over the edge.

Now, here we are living the results of the Bush administrations Libertarian policies. Do you still think that is what he need right now? If you do I just have one more thing to say. Katrina.

The Libertarians Were Going To Come Save Us, But They Thought We Should Learn How To Fix The Economy Ourselves.

Libertarianism…I figured someone would bring that up eventually, other than the fine folks at Reason Magazine that is. Oh that delightful belief that we can solve everything by doing nothing. Well, I read an article the other day stating that libertarianism, mostly its tenant of little to no government regulation, will provide a viable and needed alternative to what the “big government” Obama administration plans to attempt. While I certainly agree Libertarianism has its time and place to be useful, now is neither. Wasn’t 8 years of Bush style Libertarian polices enough?

Bush was no Libertarian you say. On matters such as wiretapping of US citizens, LGBT rights, and stem cell research, the Bush administration operated in a hands on matter to understate the issue. When Bush applied a little Libertarianism the results were utter failure.

Concerning Iraq, the Bush administration favored using contractors rather than government military personal for many positions. A Libertarian would argue here that this would be favorable. Opening the market to many different bidders should allow the government to have the job for the best price by the best workers. That didn’t happen. Companies gouged the government, going way over schedule and way over budget. The government has found much of the building contractors are doing to be well below standards. And of course there is the whole Haliburton mess. KBR, which was a subsidy of Hal, has $2.7 Billion in undocumented spending. They supplied our fighting men and women with unsafe drinking water and faulty electrical work that led to troop deaths. KBR still operates in Iraq. Who picks up the tab? I’m sure you can guess.

How about health care? According to a recent article in the Atlantic in 2000 there were 39.8 million Americans without health insurance. By 2007 the number had swollen to 45.7 million. Health care premiums rose from $6,438 per year to $12,680 per year from 2000 to 2008. Could this have all stemmed from the Libertarian approach to letting the markets sort out health care the Bush administration took?

“Perhaps the most puzzling abdication was the GOP failure to do anything at all on health care. The window for saving private health care from government encroachment is closing, and both business and workers are feeling the pinch from rising costs. Yet Republicans failed to make health-care savings accounts more attractive, failed to let business associations offer their own health plans, and failed even to bring to a vote Arizona Congressman John Shadegg’s bill to avoid costly state mandates by letting health insurance be marketed across state boundaries.”

They missed their chance to fix health care without “big government” stepping in. By taking such an extreme hands off approach to health care, the Bush administration pretty much secured the need for government to step in and solve the issue.

Of course we can’t forget the current economic crisis; really how can we forget. While a few hard right free market groups will slap your mouth if they hear you blame deregulation for the crisis, most will agree that deregulation or at least a lack of regulation is at least partly to blame. The government did not prevent the sale of the toxic mortgages which started this whole mess. When the bubble was about to burst the Federal Reserve did not react accordingly. Had Fed Chair Alan Greenspan only identified the bubble the public perception of the housing market would have altered and the crisis would have been averted or at least contained. Lack of regulation on mortgage qualifications, loan risk assessments, and predatory lending ultimately pushed the crisis over the edge.

Now, here we are living the results of the Bush administrations Libertarian policies. Do you still think that is what he need right now? If you do I just have one more thing to say. Katrina.