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December 29, 2005
Friday, April 22, 2005
Friday's Links
Activism
Tell Senator Frist to Stop the Abuse of Power! Ok, well, we know he's unlikely to listen, but maybe he'll realize the political costs of his power grab. Especially if he's planning on running for President in '08 as many say he is. Actually, we've got to admit that we're somewhat interested in seeing exactly what will happen if the "nuclear option" does go through, because we've got to think that the backlash against the Republicans will be stunning. But common sense as got to prevail, as the risk of having these extremist judges, and possibly an extremist Supreme Court Justice (or three) appointed is just too great. So sign the petition, and let Frist know that his divisiveness is simply unacceptable.
News
Senate Republicans to DC: Get Bent. DC Mayor Anthony Williams recently told reporters that he would make a decision soon about whether Washington DC would recognize civil unions. He was forced to make a statement because a gay couple that was married in Massachusetts filed taxes this year in DC, and questions were posed about how to handle them. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) then told Williams that, if the district "mishandles" this issue, their budget could be affected next year. Remember, DC's annual budget requires the approval of Congress. So, we have a Republican Senator threatening the welfare of a district within the United States simply because he doesn't agree with a potential decision of that district. You're kidding us, right? What's next? Senators threatening to hold back the National Guard during the next round of California wildfires, because of the court's decision there? There are politics, there are partisan politics, and then there's disrupting the welfare of 572,059 American citizens simply because you don't agree with a policy. Are we going to just let this happen? Why not write to Senator Brownback and tell him how you feel? By the way, you have to write to Brownback because, as you know, DC residents don't have voting representation in Washington.
Erosion of Estate Tax Is a Lesson in Politics. So they voted to eliminate the estate tax this past week. Through masterful marketing, the GOP nicknamed it the "Death Tax", and made most people believe that it was somehow an unfair tax that was placing a large burden on many families that were still mourning the loss of a loved one. In fact, the estate tax really only affected the richest Americans, and its repeal is yet another giveaway to the upper class. A Democrat-proposed amendment that would make it only apply to estates valued at over 3.5 MILLION was defeated! How did the GOP manage to snowball the public yet again? The article provides some insight. We can't continue to lose the marketing battle, or eventually Republicans are going to convince the American public to cut off their own limbs in order to conserve space for the rich.
America's Most Wanted Terrorist Plus Protection Equals Anger. It's a simple equation, really. If you take Osama bin Laden (America's Most Wanted Terrorist), and "protect" him, by having the FBI seal his "personnel and medical files and similar files," you come up with mass anger by the American population. We're not sure why the FBI took these steps, particularly since the Freedom of Information Act all but guarantees that we'd find out about this. Is the administration trying to hide something? Why wouldn't this information be made available publicly? Certainly, you would think this administration would be doing everything in its power to capture the man ultimately responsible for the most deadly terrorist attack on American soil, but it appears not. Are these the kind of people you want making decisions for this country?
Editorials
U.S. Taxpayers' Quarterly Report. How are we doing, America? Do you feel good? Are you generally happy? What? You're not? We can't imagine why! When we read the Center for American Progress's "Taxpayers' Quarterly Report" linked above, it seems that everything is great! If you look at the "From Where We Started" column (2001) and compare it to the "Where We Are Now" column, things look peachy! Our president sure must be doing a swell job. Just look at the facts: the poverty rate is up 11%! The federal government deficit is up 1891%! Incidents of international terrorism are up 200%! All this, and more. And it's all thanks to the amazing leadership of our Commander-In-Chief!
Doing Better By Darfur. Look, the genocide (See, it's not so hard to say, it is? Because that's what it is.) in Sudan is not going away. And until we take forceful action, innocent people will continue to get slaughtered by the thousands. In the meantime, the best we can do as human beings is to demand that those in power take decisive action. We're not going to let up until then. And we're not going to settle for the hollow gestures we've been taking recently. We thought America was "spreading democracy", and was a world leader? Every day that goes by in the Sudan exposes our hypocrisy to the rest of the world. It's time we took the lead, even if there's nothing in it for us other than simply doing the right thing.
Bushes in the Hood. Now here's a topic you haven't heard a lot about recently: Gang violence. Didn't we beat that problem in the 1980's? Well, even though it wasn't listed in the taxpayer's quarterly report (above), gang violence is on the rise. This isn't surprising - when you have more poor people and less opportunity for them, they often turn to gangs. And, as usual, our President is here to save us all. Not with action, though, just with rhetoric. Ok, fine, he has magnanimously requested $150 million to deal with gangs, and proffered his wife as the new Anti-Gang Violence Czar. Not too shabby, eh? Well, it might actually be a good start if he hadn't also requested cuts worth nearly three times that much in after-school programs, family support programs, law enforcement, and other effective anti-gang programs.
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December 29, 2005
Friday, April 22, 2005
Friday's Links
Activism
Tell Senator Frist to Stop the Abuse of Power! Ok, well, we know he's unlikely to listen, but maybe he'll realize the political costs of his power grab. Especially if he's planning on running for President in '08 as many say he is. Actually, we've got to admit that we're somewhat interested in seeing exactly what will happen if the "nuclear option" does go through, because we've got to think that the backlash against the Republicans will be stunning. But common sense as got to prevail, as the risk of having these extremist judges, and possibly an extremist Supreme Court Justice (or three) appointed is just too great. So sign the petition, and let Frist know that his divisiveness is simply unacceptable.
News
Senate Republicans to DC: Get Bent. DC Mayor Anthony Williams recently told reporters that he would make a decision soon about whether Washington DC would recognize civil unions. He was forced to make a statement because a gay couple that was married in Massachusetts filed taxes this year in DC, and questions were posed about how to handle them. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) then told Williams that, if the district "mishandles" this issue, their budget could be affected next year. Remember, DC's annual budget requires the approval of Congress. So, we have a Republican Senator threatening the welfare of a district within the United States simply because he doesn't agree with a potential decision of that district. You're kidding us, right? What's next? Senators threatening to hold back the National Guard during the next round of California wildfires, because of the court's decision there? There are politics, there are partisan politics, and then there's disrupting the welfare of 572,059 American citizens simply because you don't agree with a policy. Are we going to just let this happen? Why not write to Senator Brownback and tell him how you feel? By the way, you have to write to Brownback because, as you know, DC residents don't have voting representation in Washington.
Erosion of Estate Tax Is a Lesson in Politics. So they voted to eliminate the estate tax this past week. Through masterful marketing, the GOP nicknamed it the "Death Tax", and made most people believe that it was somehow an unfair tax that was placing a large burden on many families that were still mourning the loss of a loved one. In fact, the estate tax really only affected the richest Americans, and its repeal is yet another giveaway to the upper class. A Democrat-proposed amendment that would make it only apply to estates valued at over 3.5 MILLION was defeated! How did the GOP manage to snowball the public yet again? The article provides some insight. We can't continue to lose the marketing battle, or eventually Republicans are going to convince the American public to cut off their own limbs in order to conserve space for the rich.
America's Most Wanted Terrorist Plus Protection Equals Anger. It's a simple equation, really. If you take Osama bin Laden (America's Most Wanted Terrorist), and "protect" him, by having the FBI seal his "personnel and medical files and similar files," you come up with mass anger by the American population. We're not sure why the FBI took these steps, particularly since the Freedom of Information Act all but guarantees that we'd find out about this. Is the administration trying to hide something? Why wouldn't this information be made available publicly? Certainly, you would think this administration would be doing everything in its power to capture the man ultimately responsible for the most deadly terrorist attack on American soil, but it appears not. Are these the kind of people you want making decisions for this country?
Editorials
U.S. Taxpayers' Quarterly Report. How are we doing, America? Do you feel good? Are you generally happy? What? You're not? We can't imagine why! When we read the Center for American Progress's "Taxpayers' Quarterly Report" linked above, it seems that everything is great! If you look at the "From Where We Started" column (2001) and compare it to the "Where We Are Now" column, things look peachy! Our president sure must be doing a swell job. Just look at the facts: the poverty rate is up 11%! The federal government deficit is up 1891%! Incidents of international terrorism are up 200%! All this, and more. And it's all thanks to the amazing leadership of our Commander-In-Chief!
Doing Better By Darfur. Look, the genocide (See, it's not so hard to say, it is? Because that's what it is.) in Sudan is not going away. And until we take forceful action, innocent people will continue to get slaughtered by the thousands. In the meantime, the best we can do as human beings is to demand that those in power take decisive action. We're not going to let up until then. And we're not going to settle for the hollow gestures we've been taking recently. We thought America was "spreading democracy", and was a world leader? Every day that goes by in the Sudan exposes our hypocrisy to the rest of the world. It's time we took the lead, even if there's nothing in it for us other than simply doing the right thing.
Bushes in the Hood. Now here's a topic you haven't heard a lot about recently: Gang violence. Didn't we beat that problem in the 1980's? Well, even though it wasn't listed in the taxpayer's quarterly report (above), gang violence is on the rise. This isn't surprising - when you have more poor people and less opportunity for them, they often turn to gangs. And, as usual, our President is here to save us all. Not with action, though, just with rhetoric. Ok, fine, he has magnanimously requested $150 million to deal with gangs, and proffered his wife as the new Anti-Gang Violence Czar. Not too shabby, eh? Well, it might actually be a good start if he hadn't also requested cuts worth nearly three times that much in after-school programs, family support programs, law enforcement, and other effective anti-gang programs.
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December 29, 2005
Tell Senator Frist to Stop the Abuse of Power! Ok, well, we know he's unlikely to listen, but maybe he'll realize the political costs of his power grab. Especially if he's planning on running for President in '08 as many say he is. Actually, we've got to admit that we're somewhat interested in seeing exactly what will happen if the "nuclear option" does go through, because we've got to think that the backlash against the Republicans will be stunning. But common sense as got to prevail, as the risk of having these extremist judges, and possibly an extremist Supreme Court Justice (or three) appointed is just too great. So sign the petition, and let Frist know that his divisiveness is simply unacceptable.
News
Senate Republicans to DC: Get Bent. DC Mayor Anthony Williams recently told reporters that he would make a decision soon about whether Washington DC would recognize civil unions. He was forced to make a statement because a gay couple that was married in Massachusetts filed taxes this year in DC, and questions were posed about how to handle them. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) then told Williams that, if the district "mishandles" this issue, their budget could be affected next year. Remember, DC's annual budget requires the approval of Congress. So, we have a Republican Senator threatening the welfare of a district within the United States simply because he doesn't agree with a potential decision of that district. You're kidding us, right? What's next? Senators threatening to hold back the National Guard during the next round of California wildfires, because of the court's decision there? There are politics, there are partisan politics, and then there's disrupting the welfare of 572,059 American citizens simply because you don't agree with a policy. Are we going to just let this happen? Why not write to Senator Brownback and tell him how you feel? By the way, you have to write to Brownback because, as you know, DC residents don't have voting representation in Washington.
Erosion of Estate Tax Is a Lesson in Politics. So they voted to eliminate the estate tax this past week. Through masterful marketing, the GOP nicknamed it the "Death Tax", and made most people believe that it was somehow an unfair tax that was placing a large burden on many families that were still mourning the loss of a loved one. In fact, the estate tax really only affected the richest Americans, and its repeal is yet another giveaway to the upper class. A Democrat-proposed amendment that would make it only apply to estates valued at over 3.5 MILLION was defeated! How did the GOP manage to snowball the public yet again? The article provides some insight. We can't continue to lose the marketing battle, or eventually Republicans are going to convince the American public to cut off their own limbs in order to conserve space for the rich.
America's Most Wanted Terrorist Plus Protection Equals Anger. It's a simple equation, really. If you take Osama bin Laden (America's Most Wanted Terrorist), and "protect" him, by having the FBI seal his "personnel and medical files and similar files," you come up with mass anger by the American population. We're not sure why the FBI took these steps, particularly since the Freedom of Information Act all but guarantees that we'd find out about this. Is the administration trying to hide something? Why wouldn't this information be made available publicly? Certainly, you would think this administration would be doing everything in its power to capture the man ultimately responsible for the most deadly terrorist attack on American soil, but it appears not. Are these the kind of people you want making decisions for this country?
Editorials
U.S. Taxpayers' Quarterly Report. How are we doing, America? Do you feel good? Are you generally happy? What? You're not? We can't imagine why! When we read the Center for American Progress's "Taxpayers' Quarterly Report" linked above, it seems that everything is great! If you look at the "From Where We Started" column (2001) and compare it to the "Where We Are Now" column, things look peachy! Our president sure must be doing a swell job. Just look at the facts: the poverty rate is up 11%! The federal government deficit is up 1891%! Incidents of international terrorism are up 200%! All this, and more. And it's all thanks to the amazing leadership of our Commander-In-Chief!
Doing Better By Darfur. Look, the genocide (See, it's not so hard to say, it is? Because that's what it is.) in Sudan is not going away. And until we take forceful action, innocent people will continue to get slaughtered by the thousands. In the meantime, the best we can do as human beings is to demand that those in power take decisive action. We're not going to let up until then. And we're not going to settle for the hollow gestures we've been taking recently. We thought America was "spreading democracy", and was a world leader? Every day that goes by in the Sudan exposes our hypocrisy to the rest of the world. It's time we took the lead, even if there's nothing in it for us other than simply doing the right thing.
Bushes in the Hood. Now here's a topic you haven't heard a lot about recently: Gang violence. Didn't we beat that problem in the 1980's? Well, even though it wasn't listed in the taxpayer's quarterly report (above), gang violence is on the rise. This isn't surprising - when you have more poor people and less opportunity for them, they often turn to gangs. And, as usual, our President is here to save us all. Not with action, though, just with rhetoric. Ok, fine, he has magnanimously requested $150 million to deal with gangs, and proffered his wife as the new Anti-Gang Violence Czar. Not too shabby, eh? Well, it might actually be a good start if he hadn't also requested cuts worth nearly three times that much in after-school programs, family support programs, law enforcement, and other effective anti-gang programs.
