Saturday, January 16, 2010

Skelton opposes repeal of 'Don't ask, don't tell' - TheHill.com

I love it how the Democrats want our votes (and lots of people in the GLBT world give them our votes without question) but yet they consistently aren't on our side when it comes down to key issues. When are gay peeps going to wake up?

Skelton opposes repeal of 'Don't ask, don't tell' - TheHill.com

Saturday, January 2, 2010

The Exhausted Presidency

When even Maureen Dowd attacks from the left, this presidency is in serious trouble.

Barack Obama and the Exhausted Presidency

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Wake Up, Washington

I'm watching the news and am utterly amazed by how tone deaf Washington is this week.

How does this health care debacle, which doesn't take effect until 2014, do anything to help the (conservative estimate) 10% of Americans who are out of work this Christmas?  Or the hundreds of thousands of Americans who will be foreclosed upon this month?   Nope - they're busy jetting off to Copenhagen, to a global warming conference that literally took place in a blizzard.  And, we're busy ramming through a health care overhaul that the American people don't want and can't afford.

Anyone with even the most basic understanding of economics has to know there is no way on earth that this can work.  It doesn't work on the demand side, because the dollars just aren't there without gigantic tax increases, cuts in Medicare, or worse.  It doesn't work on the supply side, because the managed care system (which is already about 50% paid by government dollars even today) has already created a shortage of Doctors and nurses.  How will it work when there are millions more insured patients demanding care in a system with the same number of providers?  This isn't rocket science, folks.   

Every single poll shows - at most- lukewarm support.   The latest RCP Composite Data of 9 different healthcare polls shows that 38% of Americans favor the Democrat healthcare plan, and 51% oppose it.

RCP also shows that President Obama's approval rating has now fallen below 50% for the first time.   You can easily research this on your own, (one good article is here) and see that this is very low for any president after only 1 year in office.  Obama won about 53% of the popular vote.  Hardly a mandate to dramatically increase government control over about 1/5 of the economy.

Did anyone even consider alternatives, like creating more incentives to buy insurance on the open market, with secondary insurance for things like pre-existing conditions?  Something?  Anything?  Other than this?  It doesn't seem like it, and it speaks to the true motivation here: power.  It's probably unconstitutional and definitely should be chilling to anyone who wants Uncle Sam to leave them the hell alone.

All of this leads me to believe there is a political day of reckoning coming in this country that will make the congressional upheaval of the early '90s look like amateur hour.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Oblivious: Pelosi Endorses ‘Global’ Tax on Stocks, Bonds, and other Financial Transactions

Despite the fact that this idea is totally unconstitutional, the Speaker now wants a "Global" tax on stock trades. What genius came up with this idea? Incredibly unpopular British PM Gordon Brown. The direct quote demonstrating Pelosi's ignorance of the G20 should be an omen to anyone who thinks this woman should be anywhere near economic policy.

CNSNews.com - Pelosi Endorses ‘Global’ Tax on Stocks, Bonds, and other Financial Transactions

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Sunday, November 29, 2009

Thanksgiving Recovery



Sis and Mom are on their way back home and we're here recovering at my house. Two exhausted cats are snoozing in their favorite spots and we've eaten up most of the Thanksgiving leftovers.

I enjoyed most of the family visit but there were some moments with Mom that I found really unpleasant. At least once a day during her visit she became really rude with someone - usually a worker in a shop or a waitress. When her unspoken rules of perfection are violated, she snaps at people or just storms off. It's embarrassing to me for a bunch of reasons and it's not surprising that by last night I had a splitting headache that two rounds of Advil couldn't stop. I went to bed around 10pm which is early for me. I doubt that she knows or cares how hurtful some of her statements and behavior are.

In the past week I've been told ("joking", of course) that I could be disinherited, reminded twice that I've made relationship mistakes in the past, told not to "get snippy" even though I hadn't done anything, told that I wasn't rinsing the dishes correctly, and so on. Happy Holidays! Of course there were positive conversations too but I've grown unaccustomed to being subjected to this. For me my favorite holiday was mostly ruined and I was embarrassed around the town where I live and in front of my boyfriend. Good times. How was your turkey day?

Here's another picture from our trip to "Ice" at the Gaylord Texan. This year's theme is the Grinch and as usual, the ice sculptures were amazing. My boyfriend treated us to fast pass tickets and a nice buffet dinner.

Damn the deficit: Full speed ahead on health care | Washington Examiner

Damn the deficit: Full speed ahead on health care | Washington Examiner

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Chilling

I wonder if China, our creditor to the tune of $2 trillion, will be held to the same legally binding global climate regime?


Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said the policy he outlined last week at an Asia Pacific summit was endorsed by President Barack Obama and the other leaders calling for "an ambitious, binding agreement" in Copenhagen, even though it would fall short of a legal treaty.

"The stronger our politically binding agreement in Copenhagen, the faster the progress toward a new legally binding, global climate regime," Loekke Rasmussen said.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Flashbacks

As we drove to our friend's comedy debut tonight, I gazed out at the scenery along LBJ freeway. Sometimes it seems almost unreal to me that I live in Texas again. It's almost as though the 9 years I spent in NJ never happened. But then, I looked closer and I saw how things have changed. In those days, I saw Dallas as a glittering city of the future...lined with shiny skyscrapers and encircled with endless freeways leading toward limitless tomorrows. It might have had something to do with my address at the time, which was in the (then) redeveloping area of Knox-Henderson. Everything seemed shiny and new. I was recently out, too.

The LBJ-scape has changed since 1999. West of Mac Arthur, the stores, restaurants and office buildings now stretch almost all the way to Grapevine. I remember there being little other than grass and wildflowers back in my Dallas Alpha days. Back then, my office was in Farmers Branch, right near what is now the new DART line and the new Sam Moon center. But "Hole in the Wall Burger" is still there on Harry Hines. And so is that place that makes the custom lighted Christmas decorations there at the corner of LBJ and Stemmons.

Those 9 years in NJ did happen, too. A colleague at work shared with me today how he and his partner have parted ways. They recently completed renovating their new home, and now they are splitting up. I couldn't help but think about the two breakups I endured during my Jersey period. The first one came years later than it should have, but happened after a particularly trying time of buying and renovating a "fixer upper" house. I thought it would be a home for many years. While you're living it, it's easy not to realize how much things change over time, whether it is our relationships, life plans, homes, or the scenery along LBJ freeway between Irving and Grapevine.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

White House admits: We 'control' news media

It's getting hard to believe these are rookie mistakes anymore. The fascist tendencies are becoming more and more overt.

White House admits: We 'control' news media

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