House Passes Bill Allowing Government-Funded Religious Discrimination
Washington, September 22 – Today, The U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment and a bill to allow government-funded religious discrimination
The School Readiness Act (H.R. 2123), a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Head Start program, was passed 48-0 in committee. However, during floor debate Thursday, Rep. Charles Boustany Jr. (R-LA) added an amendment allowing Head Start providers to exercise religious discrimination in choosing teachers and volunteers. As a result, the final vote on the bill (231-184) was stripped of the unanimous, bipartisan support displayed in committee.
The Interfaith Alliance is very disappointed in the members of Congress who insist on reacting to one crisis by beginning another one, said the Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, President of The Interfaith Alliance. The Boustany amendment is a prime example of political opportunists taking advantage of a national tragedy to institute policies that are unconstitutional and have been previously rejected by the Congress.
The Interfaith Alliance was joined by more than 50 organizations in opposition to the bill's passage if it contained the Boustany amendment. The National Head Start Association, which represents more than 2.5 million children and families, program staff and volunteers that comprise the Head Start and Early Head Start community, came out against the entire bill if the Boustany Amendment was attached saying:
In spite of its positive provisions, if HR 2123 contains a religious discrimination amendment, we must reluctantly oppose the bill.
This amendment will subsidize religious discrimination with tax dollars, turning back civil rights protections that currently apply to nearly 200,000 Head Start teachers and over 1.4 million parent volunteers.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the levees protecting religious liberty are being breached, and the wall between church and state is cracking, Gaddy said. If those in Congress who seek to repeal religious liberty safeguards are successful, thousands of children, teachers and parent volunteers who have dedicated themselves to this program could find themselves no longer welcome at religiously-affiliated Head Start programs because they are of a different faith than the sponsoring organization.
The Senate passed a similar bill, but without the Boustany amendment, so the House version will now go to a House-Senate conference committee. Members of The Interfaith Alliance will urge Senators to strip the bill of the Boustany amendment in conference.
Initiated in 1965 in the wake of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, Head Start has been widely recognized as one of the most successful government programs ever created. It has provided early childhood education and development programs that have helped millions of low-income families overcome inequities for more than forty years.
Obama Decision to Move Census to White House... GOP Sounds Alarm Over Obama Decision to Move Census to White House A number of Republicans are joining the fight to put the census issue into the political spotlight "before it's too late."
FOXNews.com
Monday, February 09, 2009
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The Census Bureau's U.S. Population Clock (Census.gov)
PEOPLE WHO READ THIS... Also read these stories: Stimulus Package Clears Key Procedural Hurdle in Senate [2009-02-09] gop sounds off on 'spendulus', gop, gop sounds off on stimulus, stimulus, stimulus passes senate test vote 987 visitors also liked this. Private Sector Likely to Have Role in Government Bank Bailout Plan [2009-02-09] 84 visitors also liked this. Leahy Calls for 'Truth' Panel to Investigate Bush Administration [2009-02-09] 72 visitors also liked this. Graham Says Obama Is 'AWOL' on Stimulus Debate [2009-02-05] graham slams obama calls him 'awol on leadership', this process stinks, obama, graham slams obama callshim 'awol on leadership', graham obama 'awol' on stimulus debate 6345 visitors also liked this. Schumer Calls for Ticketmaster Probe Over Suspicious Springsteen Sales [2009-02-09] help find the 'spendulus' pork, help 298 visitors also liked this. powered by BaynoteUtah's congressional delegation is calling President Obama's decision to move the U.S. census into the White House a purely partisan move and potentially dangerous to congressional redistricting around the country.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, told FOX News on Monday that he finds it hard to believe the Obama administration felt the need to place re-evaluation of the inner workings of the census so high on his to-do list, just three weeks into his presidency.
"This is nothing more than a political land grab," Chaffetz said.
Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, told the Salt Lake Tribune that the move "shouldn't happen." He and Chaffetz are trying to rally Republicans "before its too late."
"It takes something that is supposedly apolitical like the census, and gives it to a guy who is infamously political," Bishop said of Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who would be tasked with overseeing the census at the White House.
The U.S. census -- a counting of the U.S. population -- is conducted every 10 years by the Commerce Department. Its results determine the decennial redrawing of congressional districts
As a matter of impact, the census has tremendous political significance. Political parties are always eager to have a hand in redrawing districts so that they can maximize their own party's clout while minimizing the opposition, often through gerrymandering.
The census also determines the composition of the Electoral College, which chooses the president. If one party were to control the census, it could arguably try to perpetuate its hold on political power.
The results of the census are also enormously important in another way -- the allocation of federal funds. Theoretically, a political party could disproportionately steer federal funding to areas dominated by its own members through a skewing of census numbers.
At this point the White House doesn't seem willing to say what Emanuel's role will be in overseeing the census, and White House officials say census managers will work closely with top-level White House staffers, but will technically remain part of the Commerce Department.
But critics say the White House chief of staff can't be expected to handle the census in a neutral manner. Emanuel ran the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in the 2006 election, and he was instrumental in getting Democrats elected into the majority.
"The last thing the census needs is for any hard-bitten partisan (either a Karl Rove or a Rahm Emanuel) to manipulate these critical numbers. Many federal funding formulas depend on them, as well as the whole fabric of federal and state representation. Partisans have a natural impulse to tilt the playing field in their favor, and this has to be resisted," Larry Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, told FOX News in an e-mail.
Critics note that the method of counting can skew the census. Democrats have long advocated using mathematical estimates, a practice known as "sampling," to count urban residents and immigrants. Republicans say the Constitution requires a physical head count, which entails going door-to-door.
In 2000, Utah, which has three congressmen, was extremely close to landing a fourth House seat based on U.S. Census numbers, but the nation's most conservative state fell short by a few hundred votes because the Census Bureau wouldn't count Mormon missionaries from Utah serving temporarily overseas.
The GOP took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, but was ultimately unsuccessful. Utah leaders had hoped the 2010 census would rectify the problem, but now worry that they will lose again if the census is managed by partisans.
When Obama nominated New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to be commerce secretary -- he was later forced to withdraw -- he indicated that Richardson would be in charge of the census.
The decision to move the census into the White House was announced just days after Obama named New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg, a Republican, to be his commerce secretary. Gregg has long opposed "sampling" by the census and has voted against funding increases for the bureau.
Sabato said moving the census "in-house" will likely set up a situation where neither the Commerce Department nor the White House will know exactly what is going on in the Census Bureau. He said the process is "too critical to politics for both parties not to pay close attention."
"I've always remembered what Joseph Stalin said: 'Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.' The same principle applies to the census. Since one or the other party will always be in power at the time of the census, it is vital that the out-of-power party at least be able to observe the process to make sure it isn't being stacked in favor of the party in power. This will be difficult for the GOP since I suspect Democrats will control both houses of Congress for the entire Obama first term," Sabato said.Michelle Obama's Official White House Portrait
See below.
Oh please:) The only thing the MSM media passes on...
...and has for six years is the blatant incompetence and fascist strongarm tactics of this admin. and its Hoover/Hitler protege Rove. He has pundits and talking heads and newspeople all over America in a suffocating death grip - they don't dare make a peep about anything but the NeoCon talking points handed out by Karl each day.
The reason you're hearing so much about DeLay in a bad light right now is because the WH doesn't much like him by all accounts, so it's open season on the lap dog, so long as the newscasters don't step off the white line and start insulting the WH itself.
No, we don't give passes on things like this. nm
Since we don't know what it going to be like (your words, not mine) under O, one can only speculate. Knock yourself out on that one. I'm not into that. Bush, however, has had his debut, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th acts. The curtain is coming down and we have concrete evidence on which to base our individual takes on his regime. There is reliable data available (approval ratings, whose better off now than in 2000, the state of our economy, our standing in the world, etc) which suggests that for many of us, W has managed to single-handedly turn our country into something we can barely recognize. The hatchet job he and his buddies did early on with the Constitution is all the evidence I need to feel justified in my absolute contempt for the man and his legacy, not to mention the fact that pretty much nothing he has done has even begun to address the problems we face with terrorism on the international front and the economy, health care, the environment, etc on the home front. The decider to some, the destroyer to others.
Maine Passes Gay Marriage Law
AUGUSTA – Gov. John E. Baldacci today signed into law LD 1020, An Act to End Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom.
“I have followed closely the debate on this issue. I have listened to both sides, as they have presented their arguments during the public hearing and on the floor of the Maine Senate and the House of Representatives. I have read many of the notes and letters sent to my office, and I have weighed my decision carefully,” Baldacci said in a release. “I did not come to this decision lightly or in haste.”
“I appreciate the tone brought to this debate by both sides of the issue,” Baldacci said. “This is an emotional issue that touches deeply many of our most important ideals and traditions. There are good, earnest and honest people on both sides of the question.”
“In the past, I opposed gay marriage while supporting the idea of civil unions,” Baldacci said. “I have come to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law, and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage.”
“Article I in the Maine Constitution states that ‘no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor be denied the equal protection of the laws, nor be denied the enjoyment of that person’s civil rights or be discriminated against.’”
“This new law does not force any religion to recognize a marriage that falls outside of its beliefs. It does not require the church to perform any ceremony with which it disagrees. Instead, it reaffirms the separation of Church and State,” Baldacci said.
“It guarantees that Maine citizens will be treated equally under Maine’s civil marriage laws, and that is the responsibility of government.”
but she should move the ethics investigation to Harry Reid next:
REID'S LAST KNOWN NATIONAL MEDIA APPEARANCE: October 18th Trying To Explain His Ethical Issues. Sen. Reid: I bought a piece of land, sold it six years later. Everything was reported. It was all transparent. (CNN's Newsroom, 10/18/06)
[H]arry Reid Has Been Using Campaign Donations Instead Of His Personal Money To Pay Christmas Bonuses For The Support Staff At The Ritz-Carlton ... Federal Election Law Bars Candidates From Converting Political Donations For Personal Use.(John Solomon, Reid Used Campaign Money For Christmas Bonuses At Personal Condo, The Associated Press, 10/16/06)
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid Collected A $1.1 Million Windfall On A Las Vegas Land Sale Even Though He Hadn't Personally Owned The Property For Three Years ...(John Solomon and Kathleen Hennessey, Reid Got $1 Million For Land He Hadn't Owned For 3 Years, The Associated Press, 10/11/06)
Harry Reid, The Senate's Top Democrat, Makes Frequent Trips To His HomeState Of Nevada. Over The Past Four Years, His Bills At Caesars Palace, Mandalay Bay And Other Las Vegas Establishments Have Totaled More Than $125,000 ... (Brody Mullins, Lawmakers Tap PAC Money To Pay Wide Array Of Bills, The Wall Street Journal, 11/2/06)
That would also be a good place to start.
The climate bill passes to the floor.
217-205 votes. God help us all if this passes. I'm so p!ssed right now I could literally scream. Obama is a joke of a president and I can't wait until I can vote against him again. God only knows what will be left of our country by that time though. And spare me the Kool-aid democratic rhetoric and the blame Bush tactics. This is Obama's administration doing this horrible crap that will cause more jobs loss and higher costs for all when a lot of us are already struggling to make ends meet. Obama is literally kicking us while we are down and all he can do is smile and be the big celeb while throwing parties, etc. Obama is a failure and he is taking this country down with him. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!
Senate passes Children's Health Plan
WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 — The Senate gave final approval on Thursday to a health insurance bill for 10 million children, clearing the measure for President Bush, who said he would veto it.
The 67-29 vote followed a series of speeches by Republican senators supporting the bill and urging Mr. Bush to reconsider his veto threat.
Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, one of 18 Republicans who voted for the bill, said the White House had shown “little if any willingness to come to the negotiating table.”
Republican opponents of the bill, like Senators Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and John Cornyn of Texas, said it would be a big step toward socialized medicine, would shift people from private insurance to a public program and would allow coverage for illegal immigrants and children in high-income families.
Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, said it was “intellectually dishonest” to make such “outlandish accusations.”
Mr. Bush has said the bill would move toward “government-run health care for every American.”
Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, said those fears were unfounded.
“What will move our country toward socialized medicine is not this bill, which focuses on poor children, but the lack of action to allow people in need to have access to private affordable health care,” Mr. Corker said.
The bill would expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program to cover nearly four million uninsured children, in addition to the 6.6 million already enrolled. It would provide $60 billion over the next five years, $35 billion more than the current spending and $30 billion more than the president proposed.
Mr. Bush has not shown a willingness to compromise. But he may come under pressure so from Republican lawmakers who do not like being portrayed as hostile to children’s interests.
Democrats have selected Graeme Frost, 12, of Baltimore, to deliver their Saturday radio address. He will appeal to the president to sign the bill.
On Monday, the Service Employees International Union will rally outside the White House, and children will deliver petitions urging approval of the bill.
The child health program was born in 1997 from collaboration between Senators Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah.
On Thursday, Mr. Hatch said that “it pains me” that Mr. Bush has not worked with Congress to renew the program. Some people in the administration “have been slow to recognize the realities of the new Congress,” where Democrats have a majority, Mr. Hatch said.
The bill has support from AARP, the big lobby for older Americans; the American Medical Association; America’s Health Insurance Plans, the lobby for insurers; and governors from both parties.
In the House, the bill was approved on Tuesday, 265 to 159, with support from 45 Republicans. The House Republican whip, Roy Blunt of Missouri, said he was confident that the veto would be upheld. A two-thirds majority in both chambers would be needed to override the veto.
The bill would increase tobacco taxes, with the levy on cigarettes increasing to $1 a pack from the current 39 cents. It would require states to cover dental services for children and would increase coverage of mental health services in many states.
The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said: “Our Democratic colleagues have taken Schip hostage, and what they want in exchange is Republican support for government-run health care., courtesy of Washington .”
Bush should be grateful for this (even though he will probably ignore it, as usual), as the day may come when HE faces charges as a war criminal, and he would demand and be entitled to the same due process under the law.
Senate Armed Services Committee defies Bush; Passes its own terrorism tribunal bill
09/14/2006 @ 3:41 pm
Filed by RAW STORY
The Senate Armed Services Committee defied President Bush today by passing its own terrorism tribunal bill to protect the rights of terror detainees.
Four of the 13 Republicans on the panel joined the 11 Democrats to pass their version of the measure, rejecting Bush's proposal to bar defendants from seeing classified evidence prosecutors may want to use in court, reports Bloomberg News.
The four Republicans acted against the White House today only a few hours after the president paid a rare visit to Capitol Hill in order to personally lobby House members to support his plan.
President Bush visited Capitol Hill Thursday where he conferred behind closed doors with House Republicans on legislation to give the government more power to spy on, imprison and interrogate terrorism suspects, reported the Associated Press earlier today.
Bush told reporters later at the White House that he would resist any bill that does not enable this program to go forward with legal clarity.
The bill passed by the Senate panel had been drafted by Republican Senators John McCain, Lindsey O. Graham, and Chairman John Warner. Senator Susan M. Collins was the fourth Republican to vote for the bill.
Voting 15-9, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved the bill they said would provide suspects more legal rights than Bush wanted and resisted his attempt to more narrowly define the Geneva Conventions' standards for humane treatment of prisoners, reports Reuters.
Earlier today, former Secretary of State Colin Powell wrote a letter to Republican Senator John McCain (video link), supporting his opposition to the president's plan which would redefine the legal definitions in Article 3 of the Geneva Convention.
The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism, Powell wrote McCain. To redefine Common Article 3 would add to those doubts. Furthermore, it would put our own troops at risk.
REPUBLICANS
John Warner (Virginia) Chairman
John McCain (Arizona) James M. Inhofe (Oklahoma) Pat Roberts (Kansas) Jeff Sessions (Alabama) Susan M. Collins (Maine) John Ensign (Nevada) James M. Talent (Missouri) Saxby Chambliss (Georgia) Lindsey O. Graham (South Carolina) Elizabeth Dole (North Carolina) John Cornyn (Texas) John Thune (South Dakota)
DEMOCRATS
Carl Levin (Michigan) Ranking Member
Edward M. Kennedy (Massachusetts) Robert C. Byrd (West Virginia) Joseph I. Lieberman (Connecticut) Jack Reed (Rhode Island) Daniel K. Akaka (Hawaii) Bill Nelson (Florida) E. Benjamin Nelson (Nebraska) Mark Dayton (Minnesota) Evan Bayh (Indiana) Hillary Rodham Clinton (New York)
Our house........
Is a 600 sq ft cottage. The best part about it is the HUGE fenced in yard (for our dogs). It was all we could afford when we were house hunting. It needs work, I would love just a small addition, but that's not going to happen anytime soon. I guess I have to be happy with the fact that we are not drowning in heat bills.
Our old house
was a 24x32 bungalow, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath. Try squeezing 3 boys, a cousin, and a friend in that. We had just finished remodeling the whole thing when we got flooded out. Then we started building the one on higher ground, but the foundation of the old one started caving in from the undermining of the flood water. The floor and the walls spread 3 feet apart. But we lived like that for 3 more years trying to get the new place done. We finally couldn't wait any longer.
I believe the Democrats will take the House
and pick up seats in the Senate enough to make it very even. When Lieberman is elected as an Independent, I predict he will change his party to Democrat when he gets into the Senate, a direct slam at the Democrats who failed to support him. Lieberman, the only Democrat with a spine, will be the big winner. I am not gnashing my teeth about any of this. Democrats are the one who do the teeth gnashing. They have been gnashing since Bush won the first election and their bitterness and sore loser attitudes have eaten away like a cancer all these years. Democrats have no plan for keeping America safe, or winning the war against the fanatics. They have opposed most of the Bush administration’s domestic surveillance methods. They have opposed aggressive interrogation tactics designed to get information to protect us, including opposition to the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where detainees are treated better than they could expect if they were detained in their homelands... The terrorists in Iraq and elsewhere don’t speak of timetables for withdrawal or bringing their fighters home. They’re in it for the long haul. They believe we are not. A victory by Democrats will validate their view and encourage them to fight harder. Republicans have been far from perfect in this war. They have barely approached mediocrity in their handling of domestic issues. But to change horses and leaders mid-war is a prescription for a longer engagement, because this is a confrontation that will end only in victory or defeat for one side or the other. That’s why the Republicans need to keep their majority and conservatives need to keep the pressure on them to get back to the original GOP principles that brought them that majority. That’s a better strategy than Republicans acting like Democrat-lite. Unfortunately, I think it is too late this time around. But there is always next time. God Bless our troops.
Bush house
That neighborhood was pricey 50 years ago.
Is this what the US needs in the White House?
??????
I think NOT.
That's where we really need the house cleaning - sm
In the senate & house (congress or whatever that place is where all the politician vote on issues). All of them should be recalled, fired, whatever (and not be sent back to their home state where they can continue with the damage). Pelosi, Dodd, Franks should be the top 3 to go and then quite a few more. People should get more involved in what it is their senator is voting for and if it is not for the good of the people there needs to be a march or something and these so called senators asked to leave. And if they don't leave we need some bouncers to go in and literally remove them from the position. If you have a worker that is fired they are removed immediately from the premises and that should be the way it works with politicians too.
Can they see Russia from their house? A house divided...
Unfortunately, until we can get over ourselves, we won't. I just wonder how bad it will have to get before we wake up.
I guess we'll find out soon.
A house negro? What?!...sm
I have never even heard that term before. What is a "house" negro supposed to mean anyways?
In the White House, someone who has kept the
nm
I sure wish I could afford to buy a house right now!
Almost 1/3 of the houses in my small town that are for sale are foreclosed. They're all cute little Victorians, and I'd just LOVE to have any one of them.
That's how he bought his house......
With the money paid on his book deals.....yes, frugal by choice and probably habit. If I got that much of an advance on my books, the first thing I'd do is buy a gorgeous house in a nice neighborhood to raise my kids.
My house has been broken into, as well...
a far cry from a war on our soil.
Yes, yes. I have 1/2 mile from my house.
x
Considering what we got in the white house, that's all
xx
we already have a racist in the white house
George Bush does not like black people
Mr. Bugliosi went before the house judiciary...
committee when they discussed impeachment, and they were not impressed enough, even with a Democratic majority, to start impeachment proceedings. What I read about that tells me all I need to know. How a seemingly rational human being can think that one man could so manipulate not only this government but foreign governments as well who said the intelligence was real, and ignore the fact that the Clinton Administration was talking regime change in Iraq, even authored the Iraqi Liberation Act...and still think that Bush all alone and by himself lied to the world (these same people who call him a bumbling ignoramus today) and made them all believe it...you can honestly tell me that he was intelligent enough to pull off that kind of hoax with all the checks and balances of this government and in the world...and you really believe that? It is not that I am a Bush fan...because he has done a lot of things I certainly don't agree with. But to try to blame the Iraq war on one man...and lay absolutely NO blame at the feet of the intelligence agencies, the head of the CIA that he inherited from Clinton, or at Congress for voting for it...makes absolutely no sense to me, and I would be saying the same thing if it were a Dem president people were trying to railroad.
Okay, I won't say anything about someone wanting to sell books, since I have not read Bugliosi's. However, as far as brisk sales, I believe "Obama Nation" went straight to #1 on the New York Times best seller list and may still be there. Have you read that one? And "The Case Against Barack Obama" debuted at #5. Just in case you are interested. I am about halfway through that one, and I am putting it to the test...I am independently verifying every point made (amazing what you can find in public record on the internet). Maybe I am not the only one that needs to move out of my "comfort zone" maybe? Perhaps you should too. You might be surprised at what you find, to coin your words.
Frankly, I am not that interested in Bush. He is on his way out. Like I said...I have several problems with him. But, as much as many people would like to, it is just not logical to blame him alone for the war in Iraq. Any more than it would be to blame Obama if he were in the same set of circumstances, or anyone else. I believed Clinton when he said Iraq had WMD and tortured and killed his own people, and I believed Bush when HE said the same thing.
In Bristol's house, choice was never
Who know's? If she had felt comfortable enough to come to her mother about birth control, she may not now be in the position to (In Palin's own word) "grow up faster than we had ever thought." Furthermore, this begs the question of sex education taboos, both in the household and in the schools, parental controls over acess to education, the judgment involved in making these decision about access to education and birth control and so forth. Guess Plain was having a bit of difficulty balancing her priorities while governor. Of course, lost in the shuffle is the fact that no one will ever know how Bristol feels about her siutation, the decisions that she may or may not have made herself and the national spotlight she now finds herself in. This coming out of the ethics-housekeeper's own house. Unwittingly, she has really shone a brand new light on herself and the issues at hand. Way to go, Palin. John McCain probably knows by now that maybe he should have done a bit more homework before he got himself and his party into this pickle.
I really hope that the house does not approve...sm
the bill from the senate with all the addendums. Why can't we have a clean bill without things being added on? The house vote is our last chance and I hope they don't cave without making changes. I am proud to say that one of my senators, Bernie Sanders-I voted against it, and he IS the most liberal senator, not Obama.
With all the Christians in the house, we can't muster up
Wow. Class act, I must say.
Say goodbye to your beach house
It will be gone if the O has anything to say about it.
White house butler guy.....you can't be serious.
He will be one of Obama's top advisors. You can't be that naive.
As to the Chicago political machine...google it. The Daleys of Chicago...crooked as a dog's hind leg comes to mind...you don't remember the current Mayor daley's dad?
Can't believe you never heard of the Chicago political machine. Obama was part of it, and he is bringing it with him to the White House. Yeah, that concerns me...and last time I looked, I have a right to be concerned.
The White House Butler guy
Ever see One Life to Live. Remember Asa Buchanan's butler, Nigel? Nigel knew more about Asa than his own family. OF COURSE, I understand what a Chief of Staff is. The position still sounds like a great big butler to me...one who sees all and knows all, exercises great discretion and is trusted by his employer.
To begin, I live in a parallel universe from you. I have no reason whatsoever to Google Chicago politial machine. I have seen the term thrown around here and there in paranoid rants and I am also acutely aware of how Chicago politics has been depicted by the right-wingers ever since the 60s...my mom being my prime source on that one (a Goldwater republican). I do not share this world view. When I think of Chicago politics, I think in terms of ideology, but that is a different story from this.
I was simply trying to get you to explain YOUR take on it and also why it is that you find so much fault ALREADY with Rahm Emanuel. He certainly will not be Obama's only advisor. As a matter of fact, Obama is bound to surround himself with many, many advisors from both sides of the aisle who represent a very WIDE variety of viewpoints, all of which he will listen to, consider, draw conclusions, formulate plans and policy initiatives and execute what he feels best. That's my thing. I was simply trying to get you to explain yours.
Humor police in the house....(sm)
The intent of the post was not to compare an embryo to a turkey, but rather simply a joke saying that she would take up one cause but not the other. If you read the posts below you might understand the joke.
However, since you mentioned it, I'm sure I could make that comparrison. Our ideas of when life begins are obviously not the same.
This has nothing to do with Bush. My whole point of this was not to worship Bush here. My whole point was that I was blindsided by our government and I refuse to sit back and not be informed with Obama as president. I want to stay in the know so I can make my own decisions and keep tabs on things. I just think that President Obama has made A LOT of promises already and the man hasn't even been pres for a whole week yet and he has already broken some of his promises. I am going to hold this president and any future president's feet to the fire from now on. I don't care if they are dem, pub, or whatever......
Nice to see the WH being used as a party house - NOT
I can hear founding fathers rolling over in their graves. Who knew that we'd have someone who thinks the white house is his own little party houses with Wednesday night Conga lines. And hey, who needs music awards anymore, their being given away behind closed doors at the WH. If it's going to be a party house maybe they should have the decency to take down the pictures of our founding fathers. What a disgrace!
I know for us $25,000 is a lot of money, but in the big picture, that is not a drop in the bucket...
I am sure though if he could go somewhere without all those people going with him that he would be more than happy at this point to do it. I know I would. I do not begrudge him one minute of happiness with his family because the rest of the time everybody in this country is trying to tear him apart. I grew up with guns in the house.
My father had gun racks and he always kept one rifle loaded in case someone tried to break into the house. All three of us kids knew it and we also knew not to touch it. My dad taught us how to shoot, the safe way to use guns, and what NOT to do with a gun. I think the problem with a lot of gun related accidents is that parents hide the guns and don't teach their kids the dangers and how to properly handle guns.
If you take guns away from the law-abiding citizens....it won't stop the criminals from getting them and then we will have nothing to protect ourselves with. That is common sense really. It will just create an even bigger black market for guns and only the unlawful citizens will buy them illegally like that which will leave the lawful citizens unprotected from criminals.
At age 79, Rep. John Dingell is known for his prickly demeanor and blunt words, which have earned him respect. Rep. Dingell's Web Site
Morning Edition, December 13, 2005 · John Dingell (D-MI) marks 50 years in the House on Tuesday. Only two others in history have served longer.
Dingell came to Congress in December 1955, when he won a special election to replace his late father. Dingell speaks fondly of working on massive, important legislation he helped shepherd through Congress, including Medicare, food stamps, student loans, consumer product protection and the Endangered Species Act.
There are a few disappointments, Dingell says. In every single Congress for the last 50 years, he has introduced a bill to create a national health care system -- and it has never passed. The Patient's Bill of Rights he championed in the 1990s also failed. And now, with Republicans in control of the House, Senate and White House, Dingell worries they're dismantling the earlier work of his career.
But you have your choice between sitting back and being depressed and letting it go forward, or standing and fighting, he says. I choose the second course.
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