Tea Party Express Makes Little Splash in GJ

I was watching the news recently, and saw the story about the Tea Party Express rolling into GJ. I noticed one of the picket signs said something about not supporting McCain and not supporting Obama, and the whole Movement's motto is "Vote Them Out," so that begs the question...If we vote "them" out, who will we elect to fill their place? This whole Tea Party Movement is a bit ridiculous if you ask me. It doesn't make any sense, and it just seems to be a big farce...but maybe that's just me.

Watch the footage here.

Tea Party Express Headed to GJ

The Tea Party Express is headed to our very own Sherwood Park tomorrow. The organizers are hoping to gain support for their cause of voting out the Democrats representing Colorado in Congress, including John Salazar and Michael Bennet. Even though it's a weekday and most people are working, I have a feeling the movement will get a lot of support here in conservative GJ, especially in light of the recent passage of the health care bill.

Read the history of the movement here.

Americans still divided over health care reform

So I just read that even though the health care bill has been signed into law, only 47% of Americans like the provisions it provides, while 50% dislike the entire reformation of the health care system. That's a little unsettling. Aren't our representatives supposed to be our voices and vote in the way of the majority of their constituents? If that's the case, the bill shouldn't have passed...right? I just don't know. This whole health care thing is getting under my skin and I don't know what to think anymore. Lately, though, it seems the cons outweigh the pros...

Read the MSNBC article here.

House Passes Senate's Health Care "Fixes"

Today, the House passed the Senate's provisions to the recently passed health care bill. These minor fixes included shifting government funding for student loans away from commercial breaks, and many provisions didn't affect the overall health care part of the bill. The bill has only just recently been signed into law, and already lawmakers are changing it, which begs the question, how much of the original bill will actually survive the surrounding turmoil? It's interesting to ponder. How much will really change with this new bill if alterations keep being made?

Read the CNN article here.

Hmmm...Health Care

So I've been thinking a lot about the whole health care thing. I think it's great that millions of Americans will now be insured, but was this the right way to do it? I don't want America to be like Canada, where it takes months to see a doctor when sometimes urgent care is needed. Also, this bill uses federal money to pay for abortions, which I am definitely not ok with. However, President Obama DID sign an executive order saying that federal money is to be used for abortions only in case of rape, incest, or when the mother's life is in danger, but how strongly will this order be enforced? Finally, what about Medicare for our seniors? Their benefits are going to decrease, which is scary to think about because it seems like we're leaving them out to dry.

I know the Senate is already in the process of passing legislation to "fix" certain parts of the bill, but it just seems like we rushed through this too much to get it right. I guess we'll have to see...

Health Care: The Next Supreme Court case?

Thirteen state attorney generals (including Colorado's) have banded together to file one giant lawsuit against the US Dept. of Health and Human Services today, supplementing the individual lawsuit of Virginia's attorney general. The lawsuits call into question the legality of mandating citizens to purchase health insurance. According to the lawsuit, "The Constitution nowhere authorizes the United States to mandate, either directly or under threat of penalty, that all citizens and legal residents have qualifying health care coverage." The Dept. of Justice, however, says the bill is 100% constitutional, citing the commerce clause. It'll be interesting to see how this case will go, but as Mr. Coit told us, the Commerce Clause is basically a trump card, and there are no evident loopholes.

Read the article here.

Sign Here, Mr. President

The House of Representatives sent the newly-passed health care bill to the President for signing today. It passed on a 219-212 vote Sunday night. Republicans were unanimous in voting against the bill, and the attorney general of Virginia has said that he will press forward with a lawsuit against the government as soon as it's signed.

I'm not exactly sure what to think on this...I'll get back to you.

Read the MSNBC article here.

Washington D.C. Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

Washington D.C. is officially one of 6 places in the national legally recognizing same-sex marriages as of today. It joins Iowa, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont on that list of places gays can marry. On the first day, 147 marriage licenses were processed for gay couples. Many were quick to jump in line for fear that their new right would be quickly abolished, which happened in California. I think it's rather symbolic that this happened on the President and Congress's doorstep, don't you?

Read the article here.

Obama looks to decrease school dropout rates

President Obama recently announced his plan to aid state governments in their goals to cut down on high school graduation rates. As of now, freshmen nationwide have a 30% chance of dropping out before graduation. Obama is offering $900 million to start the reformation. I support his plan in theory, but the fact that he is proposing all this money is slightly unnerving. Where is this endless supply of money coming from?

Read the article here.

Nebraska v. Fetal Pain (The next Supreme Court case)

Lawmakers in Nebraska have proposed new legislation banning abortion after 20 weeks (except when the woman's life is in danger), making the new argument that fetuses can feel pain. (Other states have tried unsuccesfully to ban such procedures in the past, but never with the argument of pain to the baby.) Experts suggest this case may make its way to the Supreme Court. No one knows for certain if fetuses at 20 weeks can feel pain, although evidence suggests so. Pro-Life groups are now coming foward, claiming the legislation is unconstitutional, although the bill has yet to be even voted on, let alone passed. Legal experts are pinned in a battle on this one, with some claiming the bill to be fully constitutional, while others disagree. It will be interesting to see if this does make it to the Supreme Court (which I bet it will, seeing as it's in conflict with Roe v. Wade), but I sincerely hope this does become law. All I have to say is, I'm pulling for you, Nebraska. Fingers crossed.

Read the full article here.

Obama Reaches Across the Aisle... (Again?)

Today, President Obama named 4 members of the newly-formed "Debt Panel." His choices included 2 Democrats AND 2 Republicans. These new 4 come in addition to 3 members named last week. The goal of this panel, which was created by an executive order, is to find ways to reduce the national debt by 2015 by December 1 of this year. However, the interest on the national debt will not be included in calculations, and will instead focus on "long-term changes on taxes and entitlement programs." I appreciate Obama reaching across the aisle here, but how does he expect to reach an agreement on these things? Republicans and Democrats have very different views on balancing the budget, and progress seems to be very few and far between. Sure, the panel will have 10 Democrats and 8 Republicans when all is said and done, but you know that the Republicans will just be voted down everytime. I guess adding them to the panel was just a facade because I can almost guarantee they'll have limited insight.

You can form your own opinion after reading the New York Times article here.

Patriot Act Extension

Members of Congress voted today to extend the Patriot Act and sent the bill on to Obama. Without this extension, the bill would only last until Sunday. The main aspects that would stay intact include provisions about wire-tapping, seizing records, and spying on "lone wolves." I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I think Americans have a right to privacy. But on the other hand, this IS a time of war, and al-Queda has proven that they will keep attacking us. So for right now, my vote is with this being okay. Oops, my Republican side is showing...

Read the article here.

Bush's lawyers are in the clear.

The Department of Justice announced today that two lawyers from the Bush administration will not face punishment for their role in okay-ing harsh interrogation techniques (including waterboarding). Originally, the lawyers were found to have committed "professional misconduct," but the Dept. of Justice found the men to have merely "excercised poor judgement." Both men left their posts with the new Obama administration taking office, and one now works at CU-Berkeley, while the other is a federal appeals court judge (great). The DOJ's findings angered human rights groups, while top-ranking Republicans are relieved the men aren't facing punishment for their role in "protecting America." Hmmm..wonder how Cheney feels about this...(just kidding. I have a pretty good idea.)

Read the article here.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em (or don't.)

Congressional Democrats say they're closer than ever at passing health care legislation, and they plan to do it without the help of Republicans. The Democrats say they're resolving the differences in the House and Senate bills, and plan to post their version on Monday. They're hoping to get enough support from the Democrats so as to pass the legislation without any Republicans' votes. We'll have to see how this works, but I have a feeling their plan will flop...

Read the article about this here.

The Mass Exodus of the Incumbents

Senator Evan Bayh, D-Ind., announced today that he won't run for re-election, citing "excessive partisanship" in Congress. His announcement comes after similar announcements by Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Patrick Kennedy, D-RI. This leaves the Republicans a chance to whittle down to 59-41 Democrat majority in the Senate during the November elections. Hello, deadlocked Congress.

Read the MSN article here.

John McCain Fights for Party Nomination

Senator John McCain of Arizona is having trouble getting his own party's nomination for the Senate seat. Most of his party is instead backing J.D. Hayworth. This comes as recent news notes a frustration with incumbents in Congress. Only 40% of Arizona actually approves of McCain right now. Tough break, considering this guy was the face of Arizona and the Republican party a mere year and a half ago...

Read about his tribulations here.

Rush Limbaugh Has A Purpose...?!

So I'm not really sure what this has to do with politics, but it made me laugh, so here goes it.

Scientists have recently discovered that playing recordings of Rush Limbaugh's (the famous ultra-conservative crazy Republican) voice causes pine beetles to go crazy, and it throws off their natural behavior. Originally, scientists played to recordings normally, but switched to playing them backwards so they themselves weren't annoyed. By using these recordings to disrupt the beetles' behavior, they hope to prevent further damages to forests, which is a major problem right here in Colorado.

Just what Rush wants to here...he's actually helping save the environment. Ironic, huh?

I'm not making this up. Read for yourself here.

Yay for Debt!

So I was watching the NBC Nightly News last night, and a story came on about our national debt. Apparently, right now the only thing keeping our head above water financially is the national debt, which is currently at $12 trillion dollars. (According to author Bill Bryson, if you were sorting one $1 bill every second without stopping, it would take 3,094 years to count out $1 trillion. Now multiply that by 12.) Also, the report said that if our national debt keeps growing at this rate, by 2040, 45% of every individual's incomes would need to be taken through taxes to keep the debt from expanding even more. So...is the national debt good? Yes. Is it bad? Yes. Hmmm...weird.

What IS the Tea Party Movement?

So with all this news of the Tea Party Movement, I decided to look up what exactly it is. The only information I found was that it is a movement to stop government overspending. According to a recent poll, 1/3 of Americans approve of it, but 40% don't know what it is. I'm still not completely clear on it's concept, so in my book, this interest group is not very effective...

Read about it on CNN here.

Leading His Troops

President Obama got a little mean today, both at his party and the GOP. The message, however, was an inspirational one. Obama called on Democrats to not "play it safe," and instead lead the country the way they were before Scott Brown's election (which has Democrats worried about upcoming re-election campaigns). Obama also blasted Republicans for their attempts at blocking Democratic legislation. Excuse me, Mr. Obama, but if you're trying to get rid of the competition between parties, shouldn't you not blast the Republicans? Instead, let's talk about the issues, and not point fingers because you aren't accomplishing what you set out to do.

Read the CNN article here.