Howard Dean Goes Against The Grain

Howard Dean is urging Senators to reject the current health care bill because he sees it as "an insurance company bailout." Howard Dean is the former Democratic Party Chairman, and is also a registered physician. Democrats have been urged to vote along party lines and pass the bill, which is what happened in the House. So to have a high-ranking Democrat speaking out against the bill is a major blow to the Democrats' efforts. I wasn't a big fan of a national health care bill to begin with, and I think it would be better served as a mandate, with the specifics being left up to the state. Either way, I'm fairly sure this won't pass the Senate. It's too controversial to gain enough support...

Howard Dean Speaks Out

House Passes Jobs Plan

The House just passed a $174 billion plan to create jobs and help out state and local governments. The article states that $50 billion is going to create public works jobs and $50 billion is going to state and local governments. Uh, excuse me, where's the other $74 billion going...? Anyone? Anyone? Ok, guess there's no answere there. The vote passed 217-212, after Pelosi had to work some magic. There's no way this is going to pass the Senate. Just wait and see.

House Passes $174 Billion Jobs Plan

Obama vs. Bush

President Barack Obama's approval rating has officially dropped to 47%. It's still not as low as Bush's, but then again, when over half the country doesn't approve of you, you know something's gone awry. It's interesting to note that over 50% of the people were needed to vote him in, and now the people are starting to switch their views back towards the more conservative end (55% of people agree that we need a troop surge in Afghanistan). Hmmm..can the American population not be content with any current administration?

Obama's Approval Ratings Dropping

Operation Bailout: Success (so far...)

Bank of America recently announced that they have paid back all of the bailout money they received under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Citigroup plans to soon do the same. Two down, a lot more to go. But hey, at least these two vital companies have made enough money to pay the American public back. That's a good sign during this recession, right?

Bank of America repays bailout money

Celebrity Deathmatch

Sarah Palin and Al Gore are in a battle for the ages. Palin is urging Obama to skip the Copenhagen Climate Change summit, and Gore is now tearing into Palin. Palin is arguing that experts on climate change are manipulating data to make the problem appear worse than it is, to which Gore replied that people like her were living in "an era of unreality." Ok, so I'm no crazy environmentalist, but you can't deny that the world is getting hotter (and whether this is man-made or just a natural part of the heating/cooling phase of the world, I have yet to make up my mind). Either way, Sarah, you're way out of your league. Al Gore, I declare you the winner.

Celebrity Showdown

Obama Forging Ahead

President Obama was on Capitol Hill today, urging his fellow party members to do their part and pass the health care legislation. The more I hear about this, the more uneasy I get. And thanks to Coit's video in class on Friday, I'm pretty sure that I'm not a fan of government-run health care anymore. (Thank you, Canada, for the bacon. But you can keep your health care system north of our borders. That does not look like a fun system to try to navigate at all.)

Obama on Capitol Hill

(Sorry, I couldn't find the video Coit showed in class!)

Another Politician, Another Affair

Well, looks like Senator John Ensign was caught red-handed. A close family friend searching through his wife's texts found a message from the senator talking about the affair ("How wonderful it is...Scared, but excited.") According to the friend, Doug Hampton, Senator Ensign cried like a little boy when confronted about it. Glad to know the men making our laws are true men...way to stay strong, Senator. (Not.)

Senator John Ensign's Affair

Sorry, Cheney!

In a recent poll of 804 Republicans, only 1 person thought former VP Dick Cheney reflects the GOP's values. Sorry Cheney, even your own party is disowning you. Maybe you can cope by shooting another lawyer in the face. Or maybe chillin' with Scooter Libby...


Cheney Not Liked by GOP

Huckabee Under Fire

Mike Huckabee is under fire recently because of his decision to approve the release of Maurice Clemmons in 2000. Clemmons is accused of gunning down four Lakewood, Washington police officers last week. Huckabee released a statement earlier stating "Should he be found to be responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington state." Ok, really Huckabee? You're the one that let this guy go. He had a 95 year prison sentence that you commuted. And it was obvious that this guy was a threat after he was picked up and released again in 2004. This severely hurts Huckabee's chances for a 2012 Presidential bid. This tragic event is turning into another Dukakis scenario, only this time, four heroic lives were lost.


Check out the video pertaining to this topic here.