My 2 Buck$

Acreage Cancer Cluster – Status update & Residents meeting

February 8, 2010 · Leave a Comment

A very important public meeting is scheduled for tomorrow – February 9th from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. to allow residents to discuss the pediatric cancer cluster in the Acreage.

Details from the original story is here.

The location of the public meeting is Seminole Ridge High School – 4601 Seminole Pratt Whitney Road – Loxahatchee.

Update on the story:

Florida Governor Charlie Crist has weighed in stating that he will appeal to the federal government for their assisting into the investigation. This comes one day after Florida health officials said that there were no plans to search for the environmental cause of the cancer cluster.

“This is of grave concern to me,” Crist said. “The people deserve every ounce of energy that can be put into this situation to reveal how this happened, what the cause might be and what can be done to help these residents.”

“This investigation will continue as long as it takes to get to the root of this issue,” he said. “The people deserve nothing less.”

Dr. Alina Alonso wanted to “clarify statements that may have led to confusion.”

Through a spokesman, Alonso said late Thursday that she “welcomes the governor’s involvement.”

“I want to reiterate that the investigation is in no way finished, but rather is at a point where the Palm Beach County Health Department needs the guidance of elected officials, universities, research facilities and federal agencies to look further into the elevated rates of cancer,” Alonso said in a statement, adding that she “would like to clarify statements that may have led to confusion.”

Alonso said the next step was to raise awareness about childhood brain cancer. Florida Surgeon General Ana Viamonte Ros rejected that saying that The Acreage residents are “beyond aware.”

“We want to do everything we can and use all our resources to give as much information,” Viamonte Ros said. “And not just awareness, but certainly to be able to find a cause, if there is one, or certainly to be able to answer questions.”

But Viamonte Ros believes that state health officials have exhausted their research options and have “reached the point where we need federal guidance to review what we’ve done and better clarify what the next steps should be.”

State officials additional plan to contact the National Institutes of Health. Meanwhile, Crist said that they state was now working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The good news is Florida Department of Health’s Chief of Staff Robert Siedlecki Jr. said that state officials will test the water and soil at cancer-stricken children’s homes.

“If they want us to test it, we will.”

“We have to try to figure out what is happening,” Commissioner Shelley Vana said. “You can’t just leave them hanging like that. I do understand that it can be difficult to find answers, but we have make an attempt.”

“My heart goes out to the Acreage families who are experiencing the heartache of cancer,” he said in a statement. “I cannot imagine the pain these parents, grandparents, children and their loved ones are feeling. I support the calls for further investigation and thank Governor Crist for committing to get to the bottom of this.” – Florida Senate President Jeff Atwater (R-North Palm Beach)

Anyone with additional information regarding the investigation, please provide any details in the comments below.

Also, if you plan on attending the February 9th meeting (or if you attended after in concludes), I would welcome the comments.

There will be a live on-line chat during the Tuesday night meeting with Palm Beach Post reporter Jason Schultz.[click here]

Sources:

Crist vows to investigate Acreage cancer cases

State officials agree to test soil and water at Acreage homes of cancer-stricken children

State officials agree to test soil, water at homes of Acreage kids with cancer

Map: acreage cancer cluster

Updated articles from the Palm Beach Post

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Teabaggers unite – It’s convention time in Nashville

February 5, 2010 · 8 Comments

The for-profit National Tea Party Convention kicked off Thursday in Nashville, Tennessee at 3 p.m.  Thousands Hundreds showed up to register for the 3:00 – 6:00 registration period.

From 7 – 8, the Teabaggers gathered for a Meet and Greet with hors d’oeuvres.

I wonder what they noshed on during this hour – Slim Jims, hot dogs, American flags?

Said one attendee – ‘Why do I want to meet and greet with some whores?  And what the hell is a d’oeuvres?’

I’m sure the crowd looked similar to the 2008 Republican Convention but with a much lower income level.

Tom Tancredo was the kickoff speaker.  I agree that he was the perfect choice.  The former Colorado Representative and failed 2008 presidential candidate ran on a single issue – screw illegal immigrants.  He will be replaced by Lou Dobbs in the 2012 Republican primary.

He said that President Obama won the 2008 election because “we do not have a civics, literacy test before people can vote in this country.”

This is a bigoted remark because he is implying that blacks, Hispanics and immigrants lack the intelligence to pass a literacy or a civics test.  Interestingly, people who most support this inane comment would have a greater likelihood of scoring lower than the people Tancredo was referring to.

So far, the biggest news to come out of the Tea Party convention is the fact that former Congressman Tom Tancredo apparently pines for the era of Jim Crow restrictions on voting rights. (The Tennessean) 

“Thank God John McCain lost the election,” Tancredo said.  He felt that McCain was shaping up to be a repeat of ‘Bush 1 and Bush 2.”   I actually agree with Tancredo here.  Where are my pills?

He also preached to the choir by saying that America “put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House … Barack Hussein Obama.”

At least Tancredo didn’t call him Barry like opening night singer Lisa Mei in her Teabagger classic hit “Where’s the birth Certificate, Barack Obama.”

Obama ,tell us where were you born?
‘Cause the media won’t do their job anymore
You’re grandmother in Kenya said you were born on foreign shores
So Barry tell us where oh where were you born?

And Mei, his first name is spelled with just 1 ‘r’.  It’s not ‘Barrack’.

On her blog, she describes herself as ‘a wife, a mother, a Christian conservative.”

Also from her blog:  “I decided to work on my own music and really turned the heat up during last Fall’s election cycle with my tribute YouTube video to Governor Sarah Palin and a campaign song I co-wrote with my friend “Big Dawg”.  We have written several new conservative/patriotic songs (many of which were #1 songs at www.soundclick.com) inspired by the Tea Parties and we have more in the works to help get the message out – that NOW is the time for all true Patriots to speak out.”

Ray Stevens was the other singer.  I listened to his political song ‘We the People” and found it quite humorous and enjoyable.  Stevens has been on the music scene for over 5 decades and in 1962 recorded the top 5 hit ‘Ahab the Arab’.  I took the time to listen to a couple of his songs and particularly enjoyed ‘Mississippi Squirrel Revival’ about a squirrel that gets loose in a church. 

Then Teabaggers were rewarded with the Teabagger movie – Tea Party, The Movie.  This 2009 documentary (?) chronicles the Teabagger movement.  Of course it seems as though they are the first group to protest government since the Revolutionary War.  They obviously ignored the grass roots movement that overwhelmed the election process in 2008.  Many of us got into blogging during that grass roots movement.

Friday’s breakout speaker was author, conservative thinker and anti-environmentalist Steve Milloy. 

“But the left is well-entrenched. They own almost every university in this country. We have a battle because the left has become entrenched and it’s because we let it happen. But we need to get active on the local level and get in schools. Don’t let your schools show An Inconvenient Truth unless they show the other side too. We just need to get involved in every institution.” – Milloy on Fox News

Universities open our minds up to new ideas, creative and individual thought and intelligent debate.  This is what the so-called ‘left’ has done to our universities.  Obviously, Milloy would like the opposite of that – minds closed to new ideas, no debate and definitely no individual thought. 

Also, what exactly does someone who is an ‘anti-environmentalist’ stand for?  How can you be against the environment?

After Milloy there are a couple of breakout sessions.  Dr. Rick Scarborough from Vision America will discuss “Why Christians Must Engage.”  This is an obvious attempt to try to bring onboard the far right fringe Evangelical Christians that have thus far resisted this movement.  Scarborough’s 2006 book is entitled ‘Liberalism Kills Kids.’  Enjoyable and uplifting.

Concurrently, there is the SGP (Smart Girl Politics) session “How to do Voter Registration Drives and Where to Find Conservative Voters” and “Women in Politics.”  I wonder if they’ll discuss ACORN – Hmmmm.

At 11:15, there will be 3 simultaneous sessions:

Young Americans for Freedom will discuss “How to Involve the Youth in the Conservative Movement” (I remember that from the 1980’s);

Numbers USA will present “5 Easy Fixes to the High Cost of Mass Immigration” (anyone see Lou Dobbs?);

Dr. B. Leland Baker will discuss “US Government Bankruptcy – Facts for Citizens Who Don’t Have Finance Degrees” (In other words people they can spew their bullshit to).

After lunch you can vomit to the speaking of Judge Roy Moore and Tom Fitton from the extremely conservative and hate-filled Judicial Watch.  If you have some time, you may want to check them out. 

In the afternoon, there will some more fun-filled breakout sessions that I know I need to see.  Hopefully, they’ll share these on YouTube or HateTube or TeabaggerTube.

Tomorrow is pretty much more of the same starting with Ana Puig’s presentation “Correlations between the current Administration and Marxist Dictators of Latin America.”  Wow, that’s a mouthful.  These are the types of discussions that make for some great Daily Show segments. 

The convention concludes tomorrow night with a banquet and a keynote address from the Queen Teabagger, Sarah Palin.

This past week, I went through the arduous debate between going to Nashville, spend $558 to attend the convention and banquet and listen to racist, hate-filled bullshit or stay home with my wife, drink topical drinks (it’s going to be in the 80’s this weekend) and possibly catch a movie.

I guess I could still catch a flight tomorrow to Nashville and spend $358 for the dinner with Sarah Palin.  I better get a signed copy of Going Rogue – and a freakin’ wink – and a damn ‘you betcha’. 

Better yet – I think I’ll stay home and start Friday night martinis now.  My brain hurts just researching and writing this post.  No wonder why only dumbasses fall for the Teabagger movement.

Additional sources:

National Tea Party Convention site

Tea Party Fireworks: Speaker rips McCain, Obama, ‘Cult of Multiculturalism’ – ABC News

 

Lisa Wei with Jim Robinson, founder and CEO of Free Republic

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Pediatric Cancer Cluster in The Acreage

February 4, 2010 · Leave a Comment

The Florida Department of Health confirmed that The Acreage in Palm Beach County is encountering a higher than normal number of brain and central nervous system tumors and cancer in children, especially girls.

U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) and other state lawmakers are calling for a probe to determine the cause.   One environmental expert said that the cancer cluster did warrant national attention.

Health officials state that they may never be able to determine the cause.  Dr. Alina Alonso, director of the Palm Beach County Health Department, said that there are currently no plans to conduct environmental tests.

“We really don’t have one thing,” said Alonso.  “From what we’re seeing now, there is nothing that is going to say, ‘Aha this is the cause of the cancer.’”

Nelson said environmental tests should start “as soon as possible.”  He pledged to work with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to get them to “lend their resources and expertise to the investigation.”

“Residents still don’t know a cause or what’s responsible for these cases of cancer,” Nelson wrote to Florida’s surgeon general on Tuesday.  “And we can’t work to fix the problem or hold someone accountable until we can answer these questions.”

“We need to give them the resources to make sure they can identify a cause,” said State Representative Joseph Abruzzo (D-Wellington).

Environmental tests will not occur until the department finishes analyzing the interviews over the next two months. 

Authorities have identified 13 cases of brain cancer or tumors among children and teenagers in the community from 1993 and 2008.

There was a significant jump in the number of cases after 2002 said Tammie Johnson, a state epidemiologist.  There is enough data available thus far to label these cancer cases a cluster.

Two more children were diagnosed with brain tumors in late 2009 generating fears that the cancer cluster is continuing to grow.

Homeowners should insist on federal assistance said Peter deFur, president of Environmental Stewardship Concepts in Richmond, Virginia.   He added that the CDC should conduct a health assessment which would include reviewing residents’ medical records and performing blood and environmental analysis.

The Acreage is a semirural community in northwest Palm Beach County.  As the name would suggest, homes are built on at least a single acre lot.  There are farms in the area and farm equipment is stored on those lots. 

Quick aside:  I looked at the area a dozen years ago about a year before my divorce.  I really have to say that I liked the rural feel of the community and loved the idea of hiring and working directly with the builder that would construct my home.   I suspect it is this reason that I have been watching this story develop.  My daughter was 6 years old when I looked at the community.

The state Department of Environmental Protection, which is not part of the cluster investigation, isn’t planning to conduct any tests, spokeswoman Cristina Llorens said Tuesday.  The agency randomly sampled 50 wells last year and declared that ground water quality in The Acreage was “generally good,” despite some elevated levels of radiation that could come from natural causes.

Excessive radiation can cause brain cancer.

Environmental concerns in the area:

  • Farm chemicals
  • Well-water quality
  • Pratt & Whitney toxic-cleanup site
  • Possibly contaminated fill dumped from other locations
  • Cell phone towers
  • Naturally occurring radioactive substances in rock

deFur said that The Acreage may be experiencing a “cumulative risk situation” where stresses on top of stresses exceed  what people’s systems can handle.

The fact the health department found a greater disparity in girls than boys raises a question of whether a hormone-disrupting chemical could be involved, he said.

“For everybody to have a comfort level, you need to know the source,” said Michelle Damone, board president of Indian Trail Improvement District.  “Without knowing the cause of it, how do you go and correct it?”

Next phases:

The state health department expects to complete the second phase of the study by mid-March, 2010.  They plan to conduct interviews with 12 of the 13 families and review the cancer rates using updated population data.  Note:  The thirteenth family could not be located as they have moved from the area.

If a third phase occurs, it may include environmental tests which would take up to one year to complete.

A fourth phase would be a large-scale federal or university-based project.

As mentioned earlier, additional studies are not currently planned.

“Everybody is exposed to a multitude of things,” said Becky Samarripa, whose 15-year-old daughter had a tumor removed in 2008.  Still, so many of these children went to the same schools, play in the same soil and drink the same well water that tests in at least one of those areas should be warranted, she said.

New York law firm, Weitz & Luxenberg, affiliated with environmental activist Erin Brockovich, has been conducting water analyses since late last year. 

 

Public meeting:

Officials plan to discuss the investigation at a public meeting.

Date:           February 9, 2010

Time:          6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Location:   Seminole Ridge High School

                    4601 Seminole Pratt Whitney Road

                    Loxahatchee

 Sources:

Link to study:  Acreage SIR Recalculation Population Estimate Methods and Results

Cancer cluster designation rattles The Acreage

New data confirms Acreage cancer cluster; health official puzzled on cause of children’s ailments

 

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SCOTUS Kills Democracy

January 22, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Actually, they have reshaped it.

In case you missed it, our fine United States Supreme Court led by Justices John Roberts, Samuel Alito,  Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Anthony Kennedy ruled in a 5-4 vote that corporations cannot be restricted on political contributions in candidate elections.

The majority said that this was a vindication “of the First Amendment’s most basic free speech principle — that the government has no business regulating political speech.”

But since when did corporations become citizens?  Yes, I know that they pay taxes but not the way citizens are required to.  We definitely don’t have the same loopholes.  Nor do they have the same bankruptcy laws.  Nor do I have shareholders that invest in me.

So far the media has been relatively quiet about this.  Surprisingly so considering the magnitude of this decision.

President Obama called it “a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans.”

For the first 24 hours following the decision, I was furious.  I came to the conclusion that Americans were no longer part of the election process.  As it was, corporations wielded a mighty big sword by utilizing corporate lobbyists to do their bidding for them in Washington.

Add the money they can now freely contribute and there is no way common Americans can have any quality time with our politicians.

I envisioned our election process being taken over by corporate interests.  Debates, primaries and caucuses get sponsorships.  (McDonalds Super Tuesday)

Whichever candidates best supported the corporate needs would receive hefty campaign contributions and a chance to represent their state or district for the next term. 

And it really isn’t difficult to “drown out the voices of everyday Americans” as President Obama put it.  The corporate lobbyists are always in the politicians faces and politicians are oblivious as to what we are saying outside the Beltway.

Initially, I believed that Republicans would now win every election.  But that isn’t true.  Many Democrats also put corporate interests ahead of American citizens.  So in that regard much wouldn’t change.

What would change are the politicians who nobly put their constituents before the corporate interests.  Their reelections would be in doubt. 

And unless you have the corporate political machine behind you, you can forget any political aspirations you may have.

The point to remember is that we are a Representative Democracy.  We elect people to represent us in the political process.

The added dollars coming from corporations will mean that ‘We the People’ will only be made aware of the candidates engulfed in that machine.

And as a Representative Democracy, the Supreme Court has determined who ‘We the People’ will rely on for determining which candidate we will ultimately vote for. 

But isn’t that the way it seems to be anyway?

Justice Kennedy wrote for the majority:

“When government seeks to use its full power, including the criminal law, to command where a person may get his or her information or what distrusted source he or she may not hear, it uses censorship to control thought.  This is unlawful. The First Amendment confirms the freedom to think for ourselves.”

This will also ensure that Fox News can provide 24 opinion on their ‘news’ station. 

What is bizarre is that this does not explain how restricting corporate campaign contributions would use censorship to control thought.  Campaign finance restrictions didn’t dictate the message, it just attempted to balance the process so ‘We the People’ had our voices heard – not ‘We the Corporations’.

In fact, stronger campaign finance restrictions were necessary in order to give our elections back to the people and really permit our voices to be heard.

Today, pork projects are given to districts so the politician can get support for his reelection.  Watch how the pork projects will go to districts where the corporate dollars are flowing in from. 

I hear Honda needs a new automotive facility in Alabama.

Anyway we spin this, this is bad for democracy.  It’s bad for the country.  And worst of, it will be bad for Americans.  The Supreme Court has failed us. 

United Corporations Supreme Court - Great job, fascArt {h/t BuzzFlash}

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Massachusetts: What were you thinking? Or were you thinking?

January 22, 2010 · 2 Comments

Open call to anyone in Massachusetts:

Did you vote for Scott Brown over Martha Coakley because of any of the following reasons?

  • The Curt Schilling remark (from Coakley)
  • Coakley’s dullness
  • Browns’ daughter’s appearance on American Idol
  • Brown’s wife being a journalist
  • Brown’s truck
  • Brown’s nude spread in a 27 year old magazine
  • Coakley’s finger conducting of Happy Birthday.

If you answered yes to any of the above list, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.

Did you want to punish Coakley because it seemed as though the Democrats took this race for granted?

This is a major election. 

You don’t vote for the person who says that they’ll put TV’s in the school cafeteria. 

You don’t vote for the popular kid who makes us laugh. 

You vote for the geek with the pocket protector who knows the US Constitution backwards and forwards, understands the needs of Americans and has the will and determination to make sure that We The People are provided with the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 

Any research would have easily shown that Brown does not support equality and does not believe that all Americans have that unalienable right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

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Teabaggers: This country belongs to all of us!

January 22, 2010 · Leave a Comment

If I hear just one more time the following “We’re taking back our country” I am going to thoroughly lose it.

The last time was from a good friend of mine – who is a Republican – who posted this on a Republican website (which I read as well).

These F*^king people think the country belongs to them.  They are less than 30% of the country and they believe that the other 70% don’t matter.

‘We’re taking back our country.”  Look at what you did with that country since you took control of it in 1994.  Add the presidency in 2001 and you really sent us into the toilet. 

Now you’re resisting every attempt to fix your mess.

Are you familiar with the following?

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. 

All Men are created equal. 

We have the Unalienable Right of Life, Liberty AND the pursuit of Happiness.

But all you hear is ‘creator’. 

And then you misinterpret His words.  It’s pathetic.

President Obama hadn’t even completed the swearing in ceremony and the f*^king teabaggers were obstructing, insulting and criticizing everything. 

Instead of addressing what Obama was saying, the teabaggers were saying that he talked too much.  That would be so their stupid lemmings would tune out mentally.

The President of the United States talks to students as other presidents have done and the right wing claims that it is indoctrination.  You can’t have the president talking to the children.  They may realize that their parents are ‘morans.’

The fact is – because of the Neo-Cons (remember them?) this country has an out of control deficit, in a war that we should never have been in, are in an insane amount of debt to China, still dependent on foreign oil and without any sort of healthcare reform.

We have a little banking (Wall Street) problem and people are losing their homes at a frightening pace.

We have a Supreme Court that now believes that the rights of the corporation outweigh that of the person.  (Hey SCOTUS – all men are created equal not all corporations are created equal)

Bigotry is on the increase and the division of opinion has never been greater. 

Teabaggers talk about the Constitution (only really the Second Amendment) but definitely don’t care about equality. 

I’m still trying to understand how Teabaggers don’t see that Fox News and Rush Limbaugh deliver right wing propaganda but believe that the rest of the media is liberal. 

How can the Teabaggers be so lazy?  Pick up a newspaper.  Read the internet.  Fact check your Fox News resources.  You will find out as I did in the early 2000’s – that Fox News is full of shit. 

Not all Teabaggers are dumb.  I know this.  They are just lazy.  It’s easier to believe Fox News.  After all, it has the word news in it!  And Rush Limbaugh agrees with them.  And Drudge posts it on the internets.

If Rush and Sean say it often enough and convincingly enough the Teabaggers will believe it.  The Neo-Cons had seen a ton of waning support and changed their name to Teabaggers and their lemmings are so dumb that they couldn’t tell the difference.  At least I know Liberals and Progressives are the same. 

One final plea:  Teabaggers – stop being ditto heads.  Start thinking for yourself.  Research what they say.  You will find, as I did, that much of what they say is pulled right out of their backsides.

 

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Party Problems – Democrats and Republicans need to take control of their parties

January 20, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Republicans and Democrats have lost control of their respective parties.  Democrats to the spineless and Republicans to the Teabaggers.

Democrats have control of the House, Senate and White House yet they act like they are the minority party.  They are overdoing this compromise crap and refuse to stand their ground for what is the right thing to do.  They caved so much in the name of compromise that the healthcare reform bill will cost taxpayers a fortune, ensure that the status quo gets stronger and does nothing to reform healthcare in America.  And still the bill will probably fail.  And Democrats are proud saying that it’s better than nothing.

The Weak-ocrats cave to any pressure put on them by the far right fringe, Rush Limbaugh and Fox News rather than stand strong and call them out for what they are – obstructionists.

Instead of banding together to defeat the minority and pass the legislation on their agenda as the Republicans did for more than a decade, they fold, compromise and wilt at the sign of a GOP-led Senate filibuster.

During the Bush years, the Republicans threatened the nuclear option which would eliminate the filibuster as a means of stopping a bill.  In fact, the Republicans called out the Democrats at the mere mention of a filibuster stating that the bill or confirmation deserved an up or down vote.  Then they won with their majority by banding together. 

It’s time for the Democrats to stand up for the people and drive legislation through that will benefit this country and Americans.  And to hell with what the Right say about them and they need to call out those who stand in the way of progress.

On the other hand, I worry more about the real Republicans in this country.  Their party has been hijacked by a far right fringe that are known as the Teabaggers.  (I know it’s the Tea Party). 

The Republican candidate wasn’t ‘conservative’ enough in NY-23 for this group of right wingers that they put up their own candidate from the Conservative Party.

Lincoln Chafee has opted to run for Rhode Island governor as an Independent candidate and is avoiding a teabagger primary challenger.

In Florida, moderate Governor Charlie Crist is probably going to lose his primary challenge to teabagger Marco Rubio.  The fringe group has ousted the head of the Florida GOP who was a supporter of Crist.

This group offers no alternatives – just obstruction.  They scream loudly and bash the opposing point of view relentlessly.  They frequently misspeak and load up on the name-calling. 

They are the bully and squeaky wheel on steroids. 

The Republicans need to take back their party.  They need to call out these fringe teabaggers and start putting out candidates that can add to the dialog without making a mockery of the political process.

They can start by standing up to Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and all the teabaggers currently collecting a paycheck in Congress. 

I know I’m tired of having my tax dollars go to a fringe group that is setting back America more than a century. 

Replacing weak and scared is easy but replacing loud and nasty is not.  Our system is no longer politics as usual.  We need big changes.

 Gene

 

 

 

 

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Hypocrite Joe Wilson celebrates MLK

January 18, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Calling Joe Wilson a hypocrite is like calling Cold Stone’s Oreo Overload an incredibly delicious treat.

The man who went from obscurity to Teabagger Icon by yelling ‘you lie’ at President Obama as he gave a speech to Congress last September tweeted the following to honor the life and memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“Today we honor a man who committed his life to ensuring equal opportunity for all Americans.”

“Although his life was cut tragically short, Dr. King’s message of freedom, equality and opportunity still thrives today.”

“Dr. King’s cause of justice inspired millions and today we celebrate noble life and memory.”

Those are great sentiments if I thought for one second that he believed them.

‘Opportunity for ALL Americans.’  ‘Message of freedom, equality and opportunity still thrives today.’ 

As part of the far right fringe, Wilson staunchly supports the position that gays cannot marry.  How is that for equality?

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision of Roe v Wade held the position that a woman could abort her pregnancy up until the “point at which the fetus becomes viable.”  Obviously, the United States Supreme Court’s decision is not good enough for Wilson.

Millions of Americans cannot get health insurance and others are unable to afford insurance thus risking financial ruin if they have a catastrophic illness.  It begs the question, why doesn’t Joe Wilson believe that all Americans should have access to affordable health insurance and quality health care as he and all members of Congress currently enjoy?  How does this honor MLK’s life and memory?

Dr. King was committed to ensuring equal opportunity for all Americans. 

Joe Wilson, using Twitter to share the above comments, is committed to obstruction, inequality and divisive politics and as such is a candidate for Hypocrite of the Year and we are less than 3 weeks into 2010. 

Gene

 

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Marco Rubio – Shut Congress for 2 years to Fix Economy

January 18, 2010 · 4 Comments

Marco Rubio’s preaching to his far right base with his latest comments:

“Well the problem is the people in Washington don’t understand what’s causing [unemployment and the economic recession]. They think that Presidents and Senators are job creators and they’re not. The job creators are people who have access to money, whether it’s their own or borrowed, who use that money to open up a new business or expand an existing one. And they’re not doing that right now because of the tax chaos and all the regulatory chaos and all of this uncertainty created in Washington DC. Perhaps the most stimulative thing they can do right now is take a two year recess or something.”

One thing to note:  Marco Rubio is running for the U.S. Senate seat in Florida that was vacated by Mel Martinez.  Rubio is a far right-wing conservative Republican who is challenging moderate Republican and current Florida governor Charlie Crist for the Senate seat.  Crist also supported President Obama’s stimulus plan.

Michael Steele previously stated that the government doesn’t create jobs and never did.

Steele and Rubio obviously forgot about all of the government employees who work for the politicians and the politicians themselves.  And he forgot about police, fire and rescue workers.  And teachers.  And postal workers.  And the military. 

How did the U.S. Interstate Highway System get made? 

Maybe we should get away from direct deposit so Rubio could look at his paycheck. 

If it wasn’t for government, lobbyists would not have jobs. 

If government shut down for 2 years, what would Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and scores of others talk about?

If government was shut down for 2 years, how could the Republicans bitch and moan, lie and obstruct all the way into the 2010 and 2012 election cycles?

Now let’s look briefly at what effect the stimulus program had on America.  The one President Obama said would help create jobs and the Republicans said would bankrupt our children and grandchildren.

According to the Obama  administration, the $787 billion stimulus program saved or created “1.5 million to 2 million jobs last year.”

These numbers do coincide with the estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office but get ready for the Republican backlash.

The “regulatory chaos” that Rubio mentioned is the lack of any regulations, of course.  (sarcasm intended).  And let’s not get started on the tax benefits already established for corporations.

What would be nice is that with a government shutdown, I won’t have to hear the crap spewing from the Republicans. 

Sources:

Stimulus:  1.5 million jobs created, saved – Swamp Politics – Chicago Tribune

Stimulus saved or created up to 2 million jobs in 2009, White House says – LA Times

GOP Senate Candidate Marco Rubio Calls For Suspending Congress for Two Years to Fix the Economy – Think Progress

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2010 New Year’s Resolution: Found a new obsession – my iPhone

January 4, 2010 · Leave a Comment

I can’t put down my new iPhone. I picked up my 3GS last Thursday and have connected all 8 of my email accounts, downloaded 34 apps and did an untold amount of set up on it.

One app provides a list of discounted apps. What the hell am I thinking?

I never saw myself as an obsessive person. I guess we all are to some degree whether we admit it or not. Some obsess about cleaning, people or image.

In 2004, I obsessed about politics – to the point of illness. I listened to radio programs and watched shows from the perspective of both the right and the left. Keith Olbermann and The O’Reilly Factor. Mike Savage and Randi Rhodes. Buzz Flash and The Drudge Report. And when Bush was reelected in November, I went into a funk for about 2 weeks.

In 2007, I obsessed about Chinese imports. I posted links on my old website and read countless articles on the subject. A year later, I discovered WordPress. I set up my blog and went nuts as my blog obsession merged with my political obsession.

I was up all night reading and writing posts. I worked at my job during the day and hung with my family for dinner all the time thinking about what my next post would deal with.

When Sarah Palin was announced as the Vice Presidential running mate, I literally went insane researching. A few posts hit the thousands on the hit count with one getting 75,000 in one day. Turns out others were just as obsessed as I was.

In 2009, I found Facebook. I went in hesitantly as I was afraid of 2 things. Obsessing about it AND having worlds collide. Family – today’s friends – co-workers – friends of the past – and so many more.

My college age daughter friended me and as a result my sister found me. My wife was already there. I then was discovered (you can tell I’m not one for the socialization thing) by former classmates from high school – nearly 30 years ago.

Fact: If I wanted to be connected with you, I wouldn’t have lost contact with you years ago. Many of my friends today are from high school and college.

Now my 30 year reunion is approaching and I’m getting friend requests from people I know I wasn’t friends with in high school. Some I have never heard of. Now that can’t be a good sign.

My step-son’s new step-mother sent me a friend request. My step-son’s father remarried late last year. Now does anyone think that her friend requesting me is a little bizarre?

And how many hot girls born when I graduated high school are going to friend me? Really? And my profile picture is a picture of me and my wife. Do you really think I am that stupid?

Then in July, I discovered Twitter. Now that is fun – sharing what I am doing at the moment.

I just sneezed. Why isn’t there a tissue around when you need one?

Nothing is cooler than when a famous person starts following you. And nothing is more demoralizing than when someone you are following stops following you, especially when they followed you first. It’s like getting dumped.

Now I have an iPhone and I have connected all my obsessions to it: WordPress, Facebook and Twitter.

I’ve ordered a pizza from the iPhone. Why didn’t I just call? It has to be faster to call.

What should I have for dinner tonight? Maybe Urbanspoon can help.

I’ll get that new book on Kindle without buying a Kindle since I’ve downloaded the free app.

Did you know you can start your car from your iPhone? And report a breakdown to AAA. There really is an app for everything.

I wrote this post with the help of my iPhone – though I admit I did edit it from my computer.

And I can’t stop listening to Pandora – which play list will it be today? How about 80’s Indie?

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Reflecting on the Biggest of 2009

December 29, 2009 · 2 Comments

Once again, a year has come to an end – faster than most of us would like.  This year has been no different providing us with a plethora of big stories, scandals, laughs and yes, a few tears.

The big news stories of 2009

Barack Obama inaugurated as 44th president. Eight years of Bush / Cheney have come to an end so along with that ended corporate bailouts, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, job loss, Gitmo closed and – oh well, never mind.  At least  Bush is out.  And Obama has his Nobel Peace Prize.

Healthcare Reform.  If a healthcare reform bill passes it looks like it will mean the status quo – only there will be a mandate to buy insurance when many cannot afford it.   If we didn’t have lobbyists, Fox News and politics over country, this would be a relatively simple bill to write.  This will be the story to watch in 2010 and the affect it will have on the midterm elections.

Afghan War.  With Obama winning the White House last year one thing was certain – the troops were coming out of Afghanistan.  Only Obama announced that the troops won’t begin coming home until 2011.  I’m not really seeing a change here.

Climategate.  Funniest story of the year.  A server is hacked which contains over a thousand emails from top notch Global Warming scientists where they apparently talked about ‘tricking’ the data to hide the decline in temperature and that it was a ‘travesty’ that the scientists ‘can’t account for the lack of warming at the moment’.  Skeptics claim this proves that Global Warming is a hoax meanwhile warmists say that those responsible for ‘hacking’ should go to jail but seem to ignore what was revealed with these emails.  Regardless, the Climate talks in Copenhagen were a huge stepping stone in dealing with greenhouse gas emissions.

Tainted Chinese Drywall.  Another big story that is being ignored by the media.  Homes built with Chinese Dry Wall develop a sulphur-like smell and encounter corrosion of coils and pipes.  The owners also find that there fine silver quickly tarnished.  Most builders will not take responsibility and the American government will not hold China accountable.  Instead the line is that there isn’t enough evidence to support these claims.  I’ve been on the tainted Chinese imports since 2007 from my defunct website. 

We’ve had tainted pet food, chicken and fish feed, toothpaste, imported fish, honey, tires, children’s toys and now drywall.  But the American government doesn’t think there is enough evidence and our media doesn’t believe it is newsworthy. 

Sarah Palin goes Rouge and resigns.  Palin resigned as governor of Alaska in order to avoid being a lame duck governor since she was not planning on running for reelection.  She popularized the lie that the healthcare reform legislation would contain ‘death panels’ that would kill senior citizens and her followers bought it.  The far right love her and the far left hate her.  Everyone in between just hopes she retires to Wasilla to watch the sunset on the Russian horizon.  Meanwhile, her memoir ‘Going Rogue’ is still selling well after 3 months.

Comcast / GE / NBC Universal merger.  This merger will lead to nightmares reminiscent to the AOL Time Warner merger / divorce.  Providers owning content is not a good thing as it will hurt competition and drive up prices.  I’m going to watch the next move by Time Warner Cable, DirecTV and Dish Network.  I’ll also be watching the government as this merger should be shot down courtesy of antitrust laws.

The big scandals of 2009

David Letterman.  Letterman shocked his viewers with the revelation that he has had sex with people who work on his show.  This scandal comes equipped with an extortion case as CBS News producer Robert Halderman tried to shake him down for $2 million to prevent Halderman from writing a screenplay about Letterman’s escapades.  Letterman instead went to police and Halderman was arrested in a sting operation and Letterman went public with an on-air explanation and apology.

Tiger Woods.  He made us forget about Letterman.  He wrecked his car – was apparently attacked by his wife with a golf club – and women are still coming out of the woodwork.  He took a leave of absence from golf to work on his marriage yet he and his wife, Elin separated.   He’s losing his endorsement deals.  And the jokes about a Viagra endorsement deal are running wild.

Mark Sanford & John Ensign.  What would a year in scandals be without the obligatory political sex scandal?  As usual, there were many this year but the two most prominent were Mark Sanford and John Ensign. 

After President Clinton admitted to infidelity, Ensign called on Clinton to resign saying, “he has no credibility left”.  What does it say about Ensign’s credibility that he had an affair with the wife of a top aide?  And who can forget that Ensign’s parents attempted to give Cynthia Hampton $96,000?

Meanwhile, Sanford said that Clinton’s behavior was “reprehensible.”  In June, Sanford disappeared for about a week saying that he’d be hiking on the Appalachian Trail.  In reality, he flew to Argentina with his mistress.  Let’s just say that Sanford doesn’t think this affair was reprehensible enough to resign from office.  To her credit, Sanford’s wife has since filed for divorce. 

Balloon Boy.  Has anybody seen my son?  He’s in a box attached to a balloon flying over Colorado.  The National Guard was called in along with local police.  The balloons proximity to Denver International Airport caused the airport to close down.  When the balloon turned up empty speculation led to fears that the boy had fallen during the balloon’s 50-mile trek.  Turns out the boy was hiding in his house and during an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN said ‘we did this for the show’.  And a scandal was born.

Glenn Beck – gold, loss of sponsors, crying.  The Fox News commentator began the year by saying in an appearance on Fox and Friends that President Obama has “a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture.”  He further stuck his foot in his mouth by saying “I’m not saying he doesn’t like white people.  I’m saying he has a problem.  This guy is, I believe, a racist.”  As a result, about 80 advertisers pulled their ads from his show and it looked as if Beck would not last much longer.  Beck then started going after Obama’s administration, first targeting White House Council on Environmental Quality, Van Jones – who later resigned.  He later went hard after ACORN.  Meanwhile, Beck continued to cry.

As far as I’m concerned, the biggest issue in 2009 involving Beck is his conflict of interest.  It came to light in, of all places, a feature on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.  They pointed out that Beck’s radio program is sponsored by Goldline International and aired a number of examples where Beck is promoting the investment in gold.

Personal notes of 2009

Seinfeld reunion.  Like millions of others, I was a huge Seinfeld fan.  I even had written an episode with the promise that my friend’s uncle who was an executive at NBC at the time would walk the episode over.  (My friend lied to me and never sent the script to his non-existent uncle at NBC.)  Though I enjoyed The Finale, I feel it came up a little flat.  I have also been a big fan of Curb Your Enthusiasm so I was thrilled to hear that they were doing a season long Seinfeld reunion arc similar to what they did with The Producers a few years ago.

The final episodes of the season was the walk-thru for ‘The Reunion’ and ended with Larry David watching the show on his television.  It was great to see the gang back on the air.  ‘Having said that’ it definitely made up for the finale.

10 year anniversary of Y2K.  It’s hard to believe that ten years have passed since the Y2K scam.  Companies around the world were panicking.  In preparation, we had to make certain that all of our computer programs and databases were capable of handling the 4-digit year.  Older languages and systems were at most risk so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that we were told to take out extra money from the bank in case bank computers got all messed up; power companies could shut down leaving millions, if not billions in the dark; do not fly as planes could fall out of the sky; and unexploded bombs could explode.  On a summer 1999 vacation in the mountains of North Carolina I saw a Year 2K supply store which sold Y2K survival kits.  I had to work that evening in case the computers shut down and I had to physically be on site in case remote access became a problem.

The scam that was perpetrated on the American public that came close to the level of Y2K was Geraldo Rivera opening Al Capone’s vault live on television 23 years ago.  Of course the vault was empty.

My2Buck$ on Twitter and new domain.  This year, My 2 Buck$ debuted on Twitter which has been fun.  I have determined that by following news sources, it is the best way to receive my news updates.  I can get details and stories that lacked coverage later.  I have also dropped ‘wordpress’ from my domain name which still seems to have Google confused.  Additionally, I have ghostwritten a couple of posts for a couple of friends on a Global Warming Facts blog. 

People / Things I hope stay in 2009 and never surface again.

This feature scares me now as last year I listed Billy Mays and he passed away in 2009.  Of course, during 2009, I became more of a fan of Mays especially since the Sham-Wow guy came on the scene.

Update on Joe the Plumber – still on the scene – sort of.  He was much quieter but did pop up occasionally.  And Sarah Palin – well we know what she’s been up to.  She’s the winner of the 15 minutes that won’t end.

For 2009, let me be clear – go away does not mean die.  RIP Billy. 

Rush Limbaugh / Glenn Beck / Sean Hannity.  Generally, anyone who would love to see Americans struggle and America disgraced for financial or political gain needs to go.  They clearly hate America.  That said, add nearly all Republicans who spent 2009 breaking filibuster records, obstructing progress and lying and distorting the truth.  And take the corporate lobbyists while you’re at it.  And Brett Favre.

2009 – A year of Loss

Each year the list hits closer to home.  We lost people I grew up with like original Charlie’s Angel Farrah Fawcett, Fantasy Island’s Mr. Roarke Ricardo Montalban, and Maude (Bea Arthur).

The news world lost pioneers Walter Cronkite and Don Hewitt.  Also, Tim Russert and Paul Harvey (‘Good Day’). 

Thank you to Larry Gelbart for adapting M*A*S*H for television which provided me years of laughs . . . and tears.

When MTV first explored programming other than videos, they ran a game show called Remote Control.  Host Ken Ober passed away November 15th.  (Adam Sandler came out of that show).

John Updike, Ron Silver, Natasha Richardson, Dom DeLuise, Ed McMahon, John Hughes, Les Paul,  Patrick Swayze, Henry Gibson also left this year along with scores of others.

Brittany Murphy dies at 32 presumably of natural causes – except there is nothing natural about dying at 32.  Nor is there anything natural about dying at 28 as Avenged Sevenfold drummer The Rev did yesterday.

Politics lost the Liberal Lion, Ted Kennedy and his sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

Stunningly, the King, Michael Jackson makes this list.

And the television show Monk ended its 8 season run a few weeks ago.

Happy New Year.  In case this is the last post you read from me in 2009 – May you and yours have a happy and healthy 2010.    

Hope to see you in 2010.

Gene – My 2 Buck$

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It’s Festivus – Time to air the grievances

December 23, 2009 · Leave a Comment

One of the joyous traditions of Festivus is telling people how they have disappointed you over the past year.

“The tradition of Festivus begins with the Airing of Grievances. I got a lot of problems with you people! And now, you’re gonna hear about it.” – Frank Costanza

I got a lot of problems with you people – so without further ado:

Congressional Democrats

You are weak.  You have a huge majority in the House and Senate and you control the White House and all you can put together is a thousand page piece of trash for a healthcare reform bill.  You ought to be ashamed of yourselves.  You ought to be voted from office.

The most important goal of the healthcare reform bill was to make certain that 100 percent of Americans had access to quality and affordable healthcare without the financial risk now associated with catastrophic illness.  How does one write a healthcare reform bill that leaves about six percent of Americans without coverage?

And don’t get me started on those with inadequate coverage or costly coverage (like my plan).

What can be written on one thousand pages that pretty much keeps the status quo?  The Insurance companies are laughing.  Have you looked at their stock price recently?

There’s no public option, no single payer option.  States can opt out of the plan when Americans should be able to opt out of their employers plan for a better, more affordable plan. 

States can opt out of abortion coverage.  Let’s see how many cave to the pressure.

These bills (one in House and one in Senate) present Congress at its worst – one that is controlled by the squeaky wheel and the millions of dollars from the lobbyists for the insurance companies.

Instead of looking out for your constituents, you have looked out for yourselves. 

And when Congress gets together to hash out a final bill between the House and Senate versions, I’m sure we will be left with a bill no one can support.

All we wanted was an insurance plan similar to what you have (at the taxpayers expense). 

In 2008, Americans voted for change.  I’m guessing that in 2010, we’ll be voting for change – AGAIN!!!

 

Congressional Republicans

The purpose of the opposition party is not to oppose everything in front of you.  The opposition party should be looking out for the interests of the minority – NOT CORPORATE AMERICA.

The filibuster is becoming synonymous with Senate Republicans and that is a travesty.  Makes me wish that the GOP would have voted for that nuclear option.

Gallagher said this about 30 years ago:

“if the opposite of ‘PRO’ is ‘CON’ – what is the opposite of ‘PROGRESS’?

The answer is Republicans. 

You are a bunch of liars who constantly use name-calling as a way to divide the country between the people who read and think with those too lazy to research your lies and those who lack the common sense to know the difference.  (I know I’ve insulted a ton of people here, but come on – WAKE UP PEOPLE.  Do some reading.  Besides, this is in the true spirit of Festivus.)

Instead of offering real alternatives to the legislation the Democrats present, you just criticize and oppose. 

You’ve blamed Obama for a recession that began under Bush’s watch and was partially caused by the legislation you passed when you controlled Congress. 

Your approach is old, tired and stale and you need to be replaced. 

 

Media

You’re the worst of the lot. 

The Republicans call you the liberal, elite media when in fact you’re just lazy, incompetent and complicit. 

There is no such thing as investigative journalism anymore.  When interviewing people (politicians and pundits), you never offer a challenging follow up question.  If someone lies or offers misinformation, you let it go as fact. 

You put question marks on your headlines in order to exonerate yourself from responsibility.

Democrats are destroying America?

It’s been over 35 years since Watergate and real investigative journalism.  Since that time we have been hit with stories like Whitewater and Monica (Clinton) and terrorism (Bush).

You let the previous administration get away with everything without questioning them yet have called this administration out on everything using Republican talking points as fact. 

It’s amazing that in the era of 24 hour news you would think that we’d get more in-depth coverage of meaningful stories.  Instead we get more Tiger or complete analysis of David Letterman – ‘Was his apology good enough?’

I thought the era of ‘Yellow journalism’ was an embarrassment but the media in the last 1-2 decades has been even worse. 

Real newsmen like Walter Cronkite and Edward R Murrow are turning in their grave seeing what you have done to the industry they held in the highest regard.

You can’t fill a program with opinion and pundits and call it a news program.  That’s dishonest. 

‘We Report.  You Decide.” Is a nice slogan but you’re really not reporting anything.   You’re opining.

 

Sarah Palin

You quit as Governor of Alaska (which of course was good for Alaska) but your reasons were crap. 

You claim that you did it because you could do more outside of the office than you could as governor.  You also said that you’d be prevented from doing things as a lame duck since you were not planning on running for re-election.

Oh, please.

According to Alaskan law, you would have been prevented from getting the profits you made from your book if you were in office.

You say that we don’t like you because you’re religious, a strong woman and a mom.   To be honest, those are the 3 traits I like the MOST. 

Saying that Obama pals around with terrorists is a lie – AND YOU KNOW IT.

Saying that the government was going to hold ‘death panels’ in the healthcare reform bill was a lie – AND YOU KNOW IT.

Your folksy charm is nothing of the sort. 

I want my president to be extremely smart – not extremely deceitful and nasty. 

Please do us all a favor and go back into sports reporting.  Maybe ESPN will hire you now – if not, Fox Sports will. 

You betcha. 

 

I have problems with a lot more people but I wanted to stop around 1000 words. 

This “Airing of Grievances” has been great.

It’s time for the Feats of Strength.  Who shall I let try and pin me? 

Hey Beck – stop your crying and get over here.

Happy Festivus to all!

 

 

Gene – My 2 Buck$

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Crist – Rubio tied in Florida Senate GOP Primary poll

December 17, 2009 · Leave a Comment

The race is on for the battle to fill the United States Senate seat in Florida recently vacated by Republican Mel Martinez.  Florida Governor Charlie Crist entered the race with a commanding lead in the polling for the Republican primary.  The seat is currently being kept warm by George LeMieux.

As recently as mid-October 2009, Crist easily led main competitor Marco Rubio 52.8% to 29.4%.  Rubio was closer to the remainder of the pack – 17.8%.

A Rasmussen survey of 471 likely Republican voters finished in a dead heat – 43% to 43%.

“Stunning is a good word for it,” said Scott Rasmussen, the pollster. “I’ll be honest, when we first polled on this primary matchup, I didn’t expect it to be very competitive. What’s happened is the political mood around the country has evolved in a way that’s very bad for Charlie Crist.”

This is not stunning in the least bit.  The Republican Party is seeking their identity and apparently it is with the more Conservative candidates.  Talking heads like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck are promoting these far right wing candidates.

Just look at what happened last month in NY-23 as a great example.

Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava was rejected by a portion of her party for not being conservative enough.  As a result, Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman (a favorite of Glenn Beck’s) joined the General Election.  Scozzafava withdrew from the race endorsing Democratic candidate and victor Bill Owens. 

Yes, the Republican endorsed the Democrat over the Conservative. 

If Rasmussen truly was stunned, then he is not familiar with the landscape (which I find difficult to believe as he is a pollster) or he doesn’t understand Florida politics.

Florida is a relatively balanced state with more registered Democrats than Republicans.  In statewide elections, we generally go with the incumbent, the most popular candidate or with the national political trend and is not a guaranteed win for either party.

Florida’s Congress is heavily slanted toward the Republicans (about 67%-33%) courtesy of gerrymandered districts. 

If Crist and Rubio battled in the November General Election, Crist would win in a cakewalk but this battle is for the Republican primary.

Daily Kos noted that “there’s no way [Crist] can out teabag Rubio.”

True words, indeed.

Here is what I said about Marco Rubio in a post on December 4, 2008.

“Former Florida Speaker of the House, he is a strong conservative and has been at odds with Republican Governor Charlie Crist because Crist is too moderate.”

In a My 2 Buck$ post on January 13, 2009 where I offered my opinion on the Democratic field to replace Martinez.  I spoke more on Rubio concluding with:

“The winner [of the Democratic Party primary] will most likely lose to whoever the Republicans put up in the election.  I do find it hard to imagine Marco Rubio not coming out on top.”

In replying to a comment mocking me on my Rubio projection, I responded with:

“He’s Republican.  He was Speaker of the House.  He’ll have the Rove machine behind him.  Who do you think could beat him?”

I admit I fully expected Crist to run for re-election as governor however a Rubio primary victory cannot be a shocker. 

Crist has tried to be a People’s governor – when he isn’t running for election.

  • He is against off-shore drilling (as long as he isn’t trying to become a Republican VP nominee)
  • He extended early voting hours for the November 2008 General Election which favored Democratic voters as Florida does have more registered Democrats.
  • He struck a deal with the Seminole Indians on a casino deal that so angered Rubio and Conservatives that they took him to court over the decision.
  • He backed President Obama’s stimulus plan even introducing him before a speech.
  • He drove the Florida Congress to pass the Cover Florida Heath Care Access Program which makes ‘affordable health coverage available to 3.8 million uninsured Floridians’.

With the Fox News machine behind Rubio, there is no way Crist can win the Republican Party.

Kos offered a few suggestions for Crist.

  1. Drop out of the Senate race and run for re-election as governor.
  2. Change parties and run as a Democrat
  3. Run for the Senate as an Independent – like Joe Lieberman.

I have thought about each of these options for a number of weeks.  I doubt that Crist drops out of the race as it would be a sign of weakness and the Conservative wing will introduce some other hard line person to beat Crist for governor – they may even dig up Katherine Harris.  It does seem that the Conservative wing would prefer to lose than support a more moderate candidate.

Crist would probably do well as a Democratic candidate for the Senate.  There is no one with the state-wide name recognition of Crist nor will any candidate rise as high as Crist before the primaries. 

Crist will repeatedly air the picture of him introducing President Obama and I’d be surprised if Obama didn’t come to Florida to return the support.

The third option is Crist riding this primary out and losing to Rubio.  Crist then runs in the General Election as an Independent like Joe Lieberman.  Crist easily gets the support of moderate Republicans and Democrats and Republicans who feel betrayed by their more right wing base and Democrats who feel betrayed by their party’s inability to pass any real Progressive legislation during the first two years of Obama’s term.

If you liked Jeb Bush’s conservative positions and how he stuck to his guns, you will love Marco Rubio.   I’m sure Sarah Palin will be here campaiging for Rubio and he’ll get plenty of air time on Beck, Hannity and Limbaugh.

If you prefer a politician who repeatedly puts people before party, then Charlie Crist is your candidate. 

 My 2 Buck$

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Rush Limbaugh is really a Democrat

December 10, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Rush Limbaugh is brilliant.  He is an entertainer.  And after 8 years of Bush is clearly . . . a Democrat.

There is no other way to explain it. 

What Limbaugh does as well as anyone is create division.  He motivates his lemmings dittoheads by using buzzwords like ‘socialist’.  

He has led the Republicans in a charge of obstructionism never before seen in politics.  Being the opposition party is not about saying ‘no’ to everything.  It is about working with the other party in order to reach a workable compromise.  But after years of forcing right wing legislation down Americans throats, the Republicans have evidently decided to reject anything that comes from the Democratic Party.

But it doesn’t stop there.

Rush Limbaugh has also made it his mission to go after any Republican who is willing to work with the Democrats in order to reach a compromise.  He is attacking any Republican for not being ‘conservative enough’.

Look at the debacle in the NY-23.  The Republican candidate withdrew from the election after a Conservative candidate entered the race and said the Republican was not conservative enough.  The Republican ended up endorsing the Democrat and the Conservative candidate lost.

Limbaugh is now targeting popular Republican Florida Governor Charlie Crist in his U.S. Senate quest instead going with rightwing Marco Rubio. 

Crist would most likely win big in the General Election but because Limbaugh says he isn’t conservative enough is opting for the polarizing Rubio – who potentially could push moderates and independents to the Democratic candidate.

Limbaugh has even taken to criticizing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for not outright rejecting the Healthcare Reform Bill.  Limbaugh acknowledges that McConnell is against the bill but is adding amendments to the existing bill instead of rejecting it. 

“They just need to say no; there’s nothing wrong with saying no to this!”

The Democrats do enough to shoot themselves in the foot.  They introduced a poor healthcare reform bill that didn’t allow for compromise as it eliminated the liberal preferred single-payer option and are now negotiating the removal of the public option.  The bill smells of corporate interests and does nothing to improve healthcare coverage for Americans.

If Republicans work toward this ‘compromise’, they will come out huge winners.  This bill will push many moderates and independents toward the Republicans and will discourage liberals and progressives from voting next year.

Progressives and liberals are thinking that with an overwhelming majority in Congress and the White House behind healthcare reform legislation, a decent bill that provides quality healthcare coverage to all Americans and doesn’t cater to insurance and pharmaceutical companies should have been easy to pass.

Instead, what we see is a thousand plus page embarrassment of a bill that does nothing to change the mess we’re in.

All Limbaugh and company had to do was sit back and point to the garbage legislation that is coming from the Democrats.  ‘Look, the Republicans are working to try to improve that rubbish by introducing amendments to the bill …”

But Limbaugh criticizes the more moderate in his party trying to take the Republicans even further to the right.  In a year (2010) that was expected to see an incredible swing back towards the Republicans, is Limbaugh supporting candidates that are generally unelectable in state-wide elections. 

Rubio is strong in his Republican district but if the Democrats put up a viable option, the Republicans could lose the state that they have controlled in the Governor’s mansion for 12 years.  Moderates and Independents most likely would wind up voting for the Democrat over a far rightwing Republican especially when their preferred candidate – Crist – was thrown under the bus by his own party.

Where Limbaugh is intelligent, he certainly has to know that by supporting far-right candidates he will push the moderates and independents to the left – allowing for Democrats to have a successful 2010 campaign.  As long as he keeps this up, I’m glad to have him part of the Democratic Party.

On a personal note:  I am a fan of Charlie Crist – except when he is running for office.  If the Republicans don’t want him and choose Rubio in their primary, I hope Crist pulls a ‘Joe Lieberman’ – either running as an Independent or as a Democrat. 

My 2 Buck$

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Comcast to buy stake in NBC – Antitrust laws put to the test

December 8, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Time to dust off the antitrust laws.  Comcast is purchasing 51 percent of NBC Universal from General Electric.  There really is nothing positive about this merger.

First the deal:

General Electric, which owns 80 percent of NBC Universal, has reached an agreement to purchase the 20 percent owned by French media giant Vivendi for $5.8 billion.

GE will in turn sell 51 percent of NBC Universal to Comcast (the number 1 U.S. cable company) for $13.75 billion.

About Comcast:

Comcast is the number 1 cable company in the United States serving roughly one-quarter of all American households in 39 states.  They own Versus, The Golf Channel, E! Entertainment and regional sports channels.

About NBC Universal:

NBC Universal owns NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, Universal Studios, NBC Universal Television Group, USA, Syfy, Bravo, iVillage, qubo, Telemundo, The Weather Channel, Hulu.  They also own more than 25 television stations across the country and theme parks.

Concerns & Impacts:

The sales pitch written in the papers addressed movies appearing on cable faster.  I guess they’re not talking about the straight-to-cable trash that shows up now.  And Comcast may allow television shows to become available on cell phones and other devices.  (A Hulu app for the iPhone?  There really is an app for everything!)

We have heard rumors that Hulu’s free days could be coming to an end.  This purchase could ensure that.

There could also be a big concern with Comcast restricting access to content that they own or by raising the costs for that content to their competition.  DirecTV has already dropped Comcast-owned Versus because of an alleged rate increase.  (about 21 cents to 26 cents per subscriber per month).  Versus brings phenomenal programming like National Hockey League games and bull riding. 

There is another battle between the two companies over Comcast-owned regional sports networks. 

No doubt, Comcast will pull the same garbage over their new NBC networks.  They could charge higher prices to the competition (DirecTV, uVerse, Dish) for the stations they own (NBC, USA, SyFy, etc) thus making it financially beneficial for customers to jump to Comcast.  They could wind up being the only company offering USA and MSNBC in some markets. 

Isn’t that one of the reasons why the antitrust laws are in place?

After the problems Comcast has already caused for DirecTV, don’t be surprised if DirecTV and AT&T (uVerse) try to purchase other media companies in order to compete and keep Comcast in line.  This would undoubtedly reduce competition.

The last time we saw a merger like this was the debacle merger between AOL and Time Warner.  As a result, Time Warner Cable has spun off into its own company and AOL is spinning off this week. 

Another potential issue is station placement.  Don’t think for a second that Comcast wouldn’t move all of its company-owned content to premiere locations or on basic packages while the competition is on less desirable channels / tiers. 

MSNBC (Comcast owned) can reside on their basic tier package while competitors Fox News and CNN could wind up on higher channel numbers and more expensive packages. 

It’s a bit ironic really.  Fox News and its conservative leanings believe in this capitalist corporate takeover mentality.  As a result of a deal like this one, their station could find themselves in a higher channel location hidden between a religious station and C-SPAN 3 or on a higher tier which charges more money to customers in order to receive the channel. 

As the Fox News demographic is older – most have cable rather than satellite.   Few spend the extra money for the higher packaged tiers.  Many residing in condominiums take the basic cable package which often is included in their homeowner’s fees.  So, if Fox News was in the highest tier package, many seniors (Fox News viewers) would be left out. 

Ruppert Murdock should be calling all Republicans demanding that they come out against this merger – unless he can purchase Disney which will provide Murdock with a stronger bargaining position. 

It’s time we stand up and make sure that this Comcast / NBC Universal deal does not occur.  It is bad for competition and bad for customers.

Sources:

Comcast-NBC deal moves closer after GE to buy Vivendi’s NBC stake for $5.8B – Daily Finance

Mega-Media Era Begins:  GE/Vivendi Deal Clears Way for Comcast/NBC Merger – The Huffington Post

Comcast’s big bet:  Deal for control of NBC Universal comes with risks and opposition – Sun-Sentinel

Comcast Gets NBC From G.E. in Deal That Reshapes TV – The New York Times

The NBC Universal sale by the numbers -  The New York Times

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