It's about time.
Posted on Wednesday, November 05, 2008
This morning I woke up early. I set my alarm for 7am so I could watch The Today Show on NBC, even though I didn't really have to get up until 8:30. As I watched President-Elect Barack Obama speak, the pundants congratulate him, and various clips of people celebrating both here at home and around the world, I was overcome with a feeling that I haven't felt in a long time. For the first time in a long time, I feel proud to be an American today. I feel like our country has finally taken a step in the right direction. We may have a long walk ahead of us, but for the first time it feels like we're actually getting closer. Congratulations, Barack Obama.
The McCain Healthcare Plan ... Sucks!
Posted on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 An Op-Ed in today's New York Times describes something that no one seems to be paying attention to... McCain's awful heathcare plan. See if you can pull yourself away from 'lipstick on a pig' talk for just a second to check it out...
McCain's Radical Agenda By Bob Herbert
For starters, the McCain health plan would treat employer-paid health benefits as income that employees would have to pay taxes on.
"It means your employer is going to have to make an estimate on how much the employer is paying for health insurance on your behalf, and you are going to have to pay taxes on that money," said Sherry Glied, an economist who chairs the Department of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.
Ms. Glied is one of the four scholars who have just completed an independent joint study of the plan. Their findings are being published on the Web site of the policy journal, Health Affairs.
According to the study: "The McCain plan will force millions of Americans into the weakest segment of the private insurance system - the nongroup market - where cost-sharing is high, covered services are limited and people will lose access to benefits they have now."
The net effect of the plan, the study said, "almost certainly will be to increase family costs for medical care."
Under the McCain plan (now the McCain-Palin plan) employees who continue to receive employer-paid health benefits would look at their pay stubs each week or each month and find that additional money had been withheld to cover the taxes on the value of their benefits.
While there might be less money in the paycheck, that would not be anything to worry about, according to Senator McCain. That's because the government would be offering all taxpayers a refundable tax credit - $2,500 for a single worker and $5,000 per family - to be used "to help pay for your health care."
"Boner-Shrinker"
Posted on Sunday, September 14, 2008
Last night, Saturday Night Live premiered for the millionth time. As expected, Tina Fey returned to portray her Alaskan hick doppelganger, Sarah Palin. Below is the opening (and high point) of the show, was actually pretty funny. Yes, also as expected, the rest of the 90 minutes was crap.
Just in case you're living under a rock...
Posted on Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Caught on tape From MoveOn.org
It's funny what Republican pundits say when they think nobody's watching. Today, John McCain's former campaign chief Mike Murphy and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan were caught on tape after an NBC interview. They shared their real thoughts on McCain's judgment in selecting Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Noonan asked, "The most qualified? No." She called the selection of Palin "political bullshit." Murphy called McCain's selection gimmicky and cynical. The video and transcript are below. This is a breaking story today—it's on many top blogs and is climbing the YouTube charts.
The transcript's below.
-Marika & the MoveOn Facebook team
TRANSCRIPT:
Mike Murphy, former McCain advisor: You know, because I come out of the blue swing state governor work. Engler, Whitman, Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush. And these guys, this is all like how you want to (inaudible) this race. You know, just run it up. And it's not gonna work.
Peggy Noonan, former Reagan speechwriter: It's over.
Murphy: Still, McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good.
NBC's Chuck Todd: Don't you think the Palin pick was insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchinson, too (inaudible)
Noonan: I saw Kay this morning.
Murphy: They're all bummed out.
Todd: I mean, is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?
Noonan: The most qualified? No. I think they went for this, excuse me, political [B.S.] about narratives and (inaudible) the picture.
Murphy: I totally agree.
Noonan: Every time the Republicans do that because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at and they blow it.
Murphy: You know what's really the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism and this is cynical.
Spring is Insane: Reason #427
Posted on Friday, August 01, 2008 Beginning last night, Spring realized that favorite toy is now my Obama '08 Hope Bracelets (white or black, she doesn't discriminate). The Obama '08 Hope Bracelet is basically a rip-off of Lance Armstrong's LiveStrong Bracelet, and is made out of the same flexible [delicious] material. These bracelets are apparently both fun and delicious.
Yesterday evening, Spring knocked nearly everything off my my messy dresser as she hunted for Obama bracelets. At 3 o'clock AM, she gave up on the bracelets (since I was forced to hide them), and moved on to anything fun and circular (read: my watch). She woke me up at least 4 times last night.
Why Barack Obama, Why? Why must you produce such fun and delicious campaign merchandise, that I am unable to get an uninterrupted night's sleep? Your button is on my bag, your magnet is on my car, and your bracelet is in my cat's mouth. Haven't I done enough?
Free Obama Button from MoveOn.org
Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2008
Want a free Obama button? MoveOn's giving them away totally free--no strings attached. I just got mine, and wanted to share the opportunity with you. Click this link to get a free Obama button!
You Vote Every Day
Posted on Sunday, July 06, 2008
I watched The 11th Hour tonight ... it was a startling and informative look at how we've damaged the world, but still have time to fix it. I wrote down this quote, because I really liked the idea:
"You can ... vote. And I don't mean voting at a voting booth. Anybody, of any age can vote. Because you vote every day that you pay for something. Every time you lay money down on a counter to buy something, you are saying that I approve of this object. I approve of how it was made, the materials that are in it, and what's going to happen to it when I no longer need it and thrown it away."
What an Asshole
Posted on Thursday, June 05, 2008 The worst president that the nation has ever seen just keeps getting worse.
From The Huffington Post: Senate Report: Bush Used Iraq Intel He Knew Was False June 5, 2008 10:44 AM
More than five years after the initial invasion of Iraq, the Senate Intelligence Committee has finally gone on the record: the Bush administration misused, and in some cases disregarded, intelligence which led the nation into war. The two final sections of a long-delayed and much anticipated "Phase II" report on the Bush administration's use of prewar intelligence, released on Thursday morning, accuse senior White House officials of repeatedly misrepresenting the threat posed by Iraq.
In addition, the report on Iraq war intelligence harshly criticizes a Pentagon office for executing "inappropriate, sensitive intelligence activities" without the proper knowledge of the State Department and other agencies.
Although...
Posted on Thursday, June 05, 2008 Although I supported her, voted for her, and think she would have done a better job ... This feels like it was a long time coming. Let's do our best to move on quickly, and work hard to keep another Republican out of the white house. And let's keep our fingers crossed that Obama will see how important allying himself with Hillary Clinton will be to winning the presidency in November.
Hillary Clinton will withdraw from the race to become the Democratic candidate for the US presidency, and back her rival Barack Obama, her campaign says.
On Tuesday, Mr Obama gained enough delegates to win the nomination, after the final votes of the primary season.
Mrs Clinton has not publicly admitted losing, but at an event on Saturday she will do so "and express her support for Senator Obama", aides say.
Mr Obama has already announced a team to help select his running mate.
Reports that Mrs Clinton was ready to concede came after she made a conference call to senior Democrats in Congress.
At a Democratic Party event in Washington, Mrs Clinton will also "express her support... for party unity", her communications director Howard Wolfson said.
Earlier, it had been announced that the event would be held on Friday, but Mr Wolfson said it had been delayed a day "to accommodate more of Senator Clinton's supporters who want to attend".
The BBC's Jane O'Brien in Washington says that as Mr Obama was claiming victory, Hillary Clinton stunned even her own supporters with a speech that offered no indication that she was giving up.
There is speculation that the delay in conceding was an attempt to position herself as a possible vice-president, our correspondent adds.
