http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONM7148cTyc
Monday was the sixth worst day in the history of Wall Street. I am so thankful that attempts of Bush and McCain to privatize Social Security by turning it over to the likes of the Lehman Brothers were not successful and already put into effect. Social Security is in a bad way currently, but privatization, elective or not, would have completely done in our senior citizens that depend on these funds for survival.
This little treasure was found in a firepit.
Is this an orchid?
Last week at the Republican National Convention, Republican leaders mentioned over and over and over again that Senator Barack Obama had voted “present” on several occasions. The inference of the statement by the Republican leadership was that Senator Obama had voted “present” in order to avoid taking a stand on an issue.
Did Senator Obama actually vote “present” on several occasions? Absolutely.
Let’s just take a moment to learn what voting present really means. The “present” vote, while not counted as a “no” vote, is in effect a “no” vote that sends a message. The “present” vote is used by lawmakers in situations where they agree with a bill in spirit, however the current version of the bill is not good enough to vote “yes;” either it is too expensive, it is inadequately planned or funded, it will not stand constitutionally, or it has riders or earmarks attached that are entirely inappropriate.
A “present” vote is taking a stand. In fact the “present” vote says more than if the Senator had just voted “no.”
Did the leaders of the Republican Party understand this? Of course they did. This is what they do and part of their every day job. What the Republican leadership was counting on, was that you would not understand the meaning of the “present” vote.
Now you do.
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Update: it became clear to me in conversations stemming from this post that some people do not know the difference between abstaining from a vote and voting present. Abstaining from a vote is choosing not to vote. Voting Present is a vote that counts against the bill passing. Bills pass by the percentage of yes votes to the total number of all votes (yes, no, and present).
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cross-posted from BlogHer
For a couple of hours this weekend a few democratic blogs spewed the same kind of toxic speculations, assumptions, assertions, and lies that Fox “News” reports as news every single day of the year.
Knock it off. We don’t need to stoop to their level to reclaim America and our freedom and a viable future from the Republicans.
We need to draw some ground rules – what is appropriate? What goes to far?
McCain has repeatedly mentioned that he wants to address the issue of earmarks in Congress. He has also called Palin a “Cost Cutter.” In that light, a close look at Palin’s excessive use of Federal earmarks, both as a Mayor and Governor is appropriate.
Palin has been praised for going after corruption in the Republican Party. I think that is just excellent, but it doesn’t mean she should get a pass on her own abuses of power both as a Mayor and as the Governor of Alaska.
I’m not going to go on and list everything about Palin that concerns me and why they need to be addressed. There are too many, and that’s not the point of this post.
The point is this: there is a line we must not cross.
Sarah Palin’s stand on Abstinence Only reproductive information (even for married couples) has been proven to be not only ineffective in reducing teen pregnancies, but actually places young people at a higher risk for acquiring Sexually Transmitted Diseases. This fact does not give us the right to tear apart her 17 year old daughter. I don’t care whether she’s pregnant or not. She is a minor. She didn’t ask for this attention. She is not running for office. She is none of our business.
We stumbled across this little family while out on a walk along Lake Union.
