Good morning, DEMS!

NO TROLLS ALLOWED!

HOW WOULD BOTH PARTIES THINK, WORK AND ACT BIPARTISAN WHILE MAINTAINING THEIR OWN POLITICAL STAND IN A HEALTHY DEMOCRACY?

Their leaders would give the other parties leaders some public credit for what is behind their common views while at the same time, maintaining some public credit for expressing what is in front of their own parties views. It is that simple, in a healthy Democracy that endorses productive political differences that can grow positive change.

The Democratic Party Caucus is not here to teach the Republican Party Caucus how to think, work and act bipartisan before the Republican Party can work with us, we do not want to play that role, neither do we have to. Especially, while Republican leaders slap the Democratic leaders in the face with Bush-label-calling of big-spender instead of giving the Democratic Party some credit for trying to financially manage health care change.

How about giving the truth some credit, if we will not or can not give each others party credit, that the government already spends 56 billion on Medicare, so we are really only talking about 30 billion more tax dollars a year in the proposed health care plan? Should we respectfully ask the Republican leaders to come out publicly and tell us, in detail, how their health care plan would cost less than 30 billion dollars more a year without under-spending, which would under-achieve ‘both parties’ goal?

However, why even ask the Republican Congressional at this point, when the Democratic House and Congress are already discussing among each the how to keep financial costs down and how to be careful with government management of the program, all the things we hated the Bush Administration for not being careful with. Therefore, unless Republican leaders can give us more than hostile spitfire against any cost of any plan, they are not giving our party anything, that we have not done ourselves that we can, or should, give only them credit for in a healthy democracy.

Watch your Democratic House and Senate work bipartisan with each other and give each other credit on this issue; they do not need the Republican Congressional.

I want to here the Senate give the House some credit for putting the mandate in the proposed plan if a mandate was the only way to project the cost for Congress to vote on and for the government to maintain the programs current yearly cost. I want to hear the House give the Senates concerns some credit too. (Would not that be perfect for an election year and Democracy in action, at that too?)

Our party is growing beyond political stand-by; at the same time, you can be proud that in someway, somehow, every Democratic leader wants to be able to say yes to health care.

Morning Hope-

There was a time when the Republican Party was one that was respected. One might not agree with the views, but one respected their right to believe that smaller government, cut taxes, etc was the way to go. Even after Reagan's trickle down theory was proven it did not work though they should have begun to understand that their way was not working. But somewhere along the way, the Republicans became so desperate to stay in power, to try and change this country drastically to a facist form of government, to get rid of the middle class leaving only the very rich and the very poor, that they became over fanatical in their pursuit, turning the party into one of Extreme Right wing crazies. The last 2 elections proved that the American people had had enough of them.

Good morning, all.

This is the typical way that conservatives do damage control when one of their leadership screw up. But notice that they also have to admit that we are right in some respects....

idesign , on 44's "Palin says her family went to Canada for health care when she was young" post:

Before the lefties get bent out of shape perhaps a little context is needed. Canada did not have a socialized medical system for much of the 1960’s. The “Medicare Act’ was enacted in 1966 and it wasn’t until 1972 that we had ‘universal health care’ throughout the country. Even then, it covered only in hospital care – didn’t cover physicians or any other service. We didn’t get universal ‘free’ health care until the Canada Health Act of 1984. So, in short, the care Palin and her family received in the 60’s was not socialized.

* * * *

Palin's family did not stick with the "best healthcare system in the world" (if they even did go to Canada which is debatable as Palin has told two stories). They also got free socialist emergency "hospital" care in the 1960s as that was in effect at the time. They would have declined an entire free ride and paid for all of it?

So what do we learn here? Republicans can't keep their stories straight and have to always admit that there is something wrong with our healthcare system even as they attempt to say there isn't.

They're stalling because they are cheap, stupid, and too much of cowards to face up to a crisis head on. Conservatives prefer the Katrina Brownie approach to life...just say its working when everyone knows it's not.

PASS THE DAMN BILL with a public option.

VOTE UP AND DOWN ON OUR ENTIRE AGENDA so voters know who is for solving problems and who is for shirking their responsibility.

Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, said insurance industry workers "do not deserve to be vilified for political purposes. ... For every dollar spent on health care in America, less than one penny goes toward health plan profits. The focus needs to be on the other 99 cents." AHIP plans to spend more than $1 million to run television ads on cable stations nationwide beginning in the next few days to push back on the attacks on insurers...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/09/insurance-industrys-final_n_491369.html

Since when are insurance agents health care workers working everyday to save lives and care for patients?

I guess this sounds good to a bunch of executives in a conference room listening to an advertising account executive stroke their egos.

But do they really think anyone other than a silly willy Teabagger or a retiree with safe Medicare benefits would think that the guy denying others coverage for cancer treatments has ever worked as a nurse? That any doctor would stop an operation midway because they learned that the patient was too poor?

Insurance industry "workers", my eye. The insurance company executives are the "efficiency" experts who get in the way of those actually giving the care...and getting paid millions a year in bonuses to deny care.

Good orning, Sandy.

That Idesign is a PUma and
'Hillis44" Hillbot, so 'grain of salt' and all of that.

Look at what the post says:

Before the lefties get bent out of shape perhaps a little context is needed. Canada did not have a socialized medical system for much of the 1960’s. The “Medicare Act’ was enacted in 1966 and it wasn’t until 1972 that we had ‘universal health care’ throughout the country. Even then, it covered only in hospital care – didn’t cover physicians or any other service. We didn’t get universal ‘free’ health care until the Canada Health Act of 1984. So, in short, the care Palin and her family received in the 60’s was not socialized.

So, who cares about "universal" coverage? It had NOTHING to do with what Sorry Failin claimed her family received. She claimed that her brother burned his foot and had to go to an emergency room. According to that post

Even then, it covered only in hospital care

And the part about "throughout the country" is meaningless.

The Yukon Territory DID have Socialized medicine at that time.

1960

Northwest Territories creates hospital insurance plan with federal cost sharing, April 1.

Yukon creates hospital insurance plan with federal cost sharing, July 1.

Who cares what that grifter claims? And how does is square with her brother having the same accident and going to Juneau a different time?

Or, maybe Sorry Failin is just a LIAR.

It's essential to lie to bring the truth to others....

An Agence France-Press report estimates that some 40 percent of the United States believe in creationism, which holds that the Earth was created by God only several thousand years ago. Students are flocking to Liberty University to study this literal interpretation of the Bible, much to the dismay of scientists.

Liberty University was founded by the late and very controversial Rev. Jerry Falwell...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/09/liberty-university-studen_n_491297.html

So how many students can Liberty University teach and where are so many millions and millions of American unemployed students and their underemployed parents getting the money for tuition?

The Falwell/Atwater/Rove propaganda machine is still in full swing sending out The Conservative Word in as lying and sneaky way as they can. Just the way Jesus would do it, right?

Note the lab coat worn by the "minister" researcher/lecturer. He uses petri dishes to prove that God created the world in six days?

Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on March 9, 2010 at 10:06 AM

The conservatives always work the hardest to defend positions that don't have an credibility. They will sit up on their hind quarters and beg or do somersault to "prove" that Palin isn't a liar when she got caught in a Big One of her own telling.

But by all means let's devise a way so people can forget about the issue at hand.

It's all about the Palin Clan in Canada in the 1960s not about those millions of Americans in 2010 who are paying too much for healthcare even if they are allowed to have it by the monopolies controlling the profit center.

Faux News always gets to the bottom of the big problems facing Americans today...

During a lengthy interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren last night, Florida Senate candidate Charlie Crist accused his GOP rival Marco Rubio of possibly waxing his back -- and charging the state of Florida for it. It was a bizarre exchange as Van Susteren does a double-take at Crist's example of Rubio not being a real fiscal conservative:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/09/crist-rubio-may-wax-his-b_n_491388.html

What about the high cost of healthcare or our energy dependence on Middle Eastern sheiks? How about the unemployment of voters?

It's all really about the high maintenance lifestyle of conservative. family values Republican politicians...or maybe Greta let this get a bit out of hand? She might just be a little confused as Scott Brown's centerfold is hanging over her desk?

Speaking of the Atwater/Falwell/Rove propaganda machine...

Karl Rove Memoir: The 13 Must-Read Passages From 'Courage And Consequence'

Tuesday marks the release of Karl Rove's memoir, "Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight."

To help you decide whether this 608-page opus is worth reading, we've provided a list of the some of the most memorable quotes from the book. Take a look at Rove's best excerpts and vote for the most Rovian...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/09/karl-rove-memoir-the-13-m_n_491412.html

The title of the book may be the best example. Courage and Consequences?

We're in Trouble When the Radical Is Paul Volcker

Robert Kuttner
March 7, 2010

...During the months of his internal exile in the Obama administration, the old lion hadn't been just licking his wounds. Volcker turned out to be a better organizer than Obama. He organized several other senior eminences to support his call to restore Glass-Steagall, including Nicholas Brady, treasury secretary under Bush I, Bill Donaldson, SEC chair under Bush II, and Roger Altman, Robert Rubin's former deputy. Volcker testified. He gave tough speeches -- of the kind President Obama should have been giving...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-kuttner/were-in-trouble-when-the_b_489260.html

It's a shame that Real Change has had to work around the administration in most cases to this point. So has the President figured it out yet? Will he start firing people who are hurting the country and himself?

If he's fired up and ready to go, it's time for some of his worst advisers to go...and others in Congress pushed to do the work they were elected to do.

PASS THE DAMN BILL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Flush Limpblob said he will "leave the country if Health Care Reform passes".

He claims he will move to Costa Rica.

Mitt Romney To Tea Party: No Third Party Candidacies

The Huffington Post
Jeremy Binckes
03-09-10

Once -- and possibly future -- presidential candidate Mitt Romney is urging Tea Party members not to run as third party candidates.

Romney told Newsmax that running as a third party candidate would split the Republican Party -- a "divide and fall" strategy -- and would "hand over the country to Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, and that would be very sad indeed."

Romney is not the first prominent Republican to try to dissuade Tea Party members from seeking office under a third-party mantle. Earlier this year, Sarah Palin called for the GOP and Tea Party to merge:

Definitely, they need to merge. I think those who are wanting the divisions and the divisiveness and the controversy -- those are the ones who don't believe in the message. And they're the ones, I think, stirring it up. We need to ignore that and we need to forge ahead with a cohesive message. It's a common sense message...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/09/mitt-romney-to-tea-party_n_491468.html

That's their problem. Nobody in the Republican Party has ever had common sense. They favor creationism and trickle down economics to solve everything.

And if people think it's hard for President Obama to herd Democrats, just try to tell a Teabagger to shut up and go away. They will do what they want and delight in all the trouble they cause. It's the Confederate way.

Besides, *sally could tell him that no real American would vote for a Mormon much less listen to his advice. Them there Birthers don't take well to any heathen religion authority figure telling them what to think or do.

The Catholic Pope with his pedifile priests and Vatican gay choir problem would have a better chance. Let's get real here, Flipper.

Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on March 9, 2010 at 10:53 AM

DPD, now if that's is an incentive for the Democrats who have been sitting on the fence to act, nothing is.

btw, do they allow child prostitution in Costa Rica? Limbaugh should do a little research before he makes such big pronouncements.

bbl.

p.s. It's really a treat to be able to post this time of the morning while the trolls are still working their shift cleaning toilets at Wal-Mart. I assume the German is too busy protesting in the streets against Middle Eastern immigrants and abusing his wife to make an appearance.

bbl.

Flush Limpblob said he will "leave the country if Health Care Reform passes".
He claims he will move to Costa Rica.
12Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on March 9, 2010 at 10:53 AM

Oh PLEASE God, I have been hoping before this---Now I am beseeching! PASS THE G-D BILL!!

We'll miss you Rush------NOT!!!!!

hmmm, Costa Rica. Is that the country you can buy sex with small boys for a small sum?????

Sandy, I posted an article yesterday, that said 3rd party candidates, supported by Tea Baggers are not doing well anyways, but just enough to rip off votes from Repugs.

Costa Rica, that would be good place for that drug-addled gas bag. Costa Rica has plenty of drugs. Maybe he will overdose.

14
SandyH on March 9, 2010 at 11:05 AM

Sandy, it's just like in the Dominican Republic, (that otherViagra vacation destination for the Obese One). They don't "allow" it but they turn into Major Renault when they have to.

Audio has been posted!!!

AUDIO - Limbaugh vows to flee the country if health care passes.

The primary is still a decent way off (August) and Charlie Crist is still not showing any signs of giving up the fight. But at least as of this moment, I'm not sure I can recall a more precipitous collapse for a major political figure (when no apparent scandal or triggering event is involved) than we've seen with Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. The latest poll out this morning has the upstart challenger, Marco Rubio, beating Crist by an eye-popping 60%-28% margin. And that's not far our from our current composite TPM Poll Average which stands at 54.9% to 30%.

Read more »

--Josh Marshall

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/

It sure looks like the Republicans don't want to nominate anyone who isn't right of McCarthy these days.

What Countries Have Universal Health Care?

by Justin Glow
Jul 5th 2007

A few nights ago, I watched Michael Moore's new documentary, SiCKO, which focuses its crosshair on the health care industry in the United States. At one point in the movie, Mr. Moore claims that the United States is the only "westernized" country without universal health care. Is that true?

First, what does he mean by "westernized"? Defining the "western world" can be subjective, and definitions will vary depending on what criteria is used. Are you defining it from a cultural standpoint? Political? Economical? Perhaps this is why Mr. Moore felt comfortable making such a broad generalization. Is it even possible to truly define what the "western world" really is?

Okay, forget the western world. (I think I know what he meant anyway.) What countries on our good green Earth provide some sort of universal health care for their citizens? Here they are:

Countries in blue have some type of universal health care. Countries in green are currently attempting to implement some type of universal health care. Orange countries have universal health coverage provided by United States war funding. Source. Click to enlarge.

Afghanistan*, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Cuba, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iraq*, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

http://www.gadling.com/2007/07/05/what-countries-have-universal-health-care/

Costa Rican Life expectancy is 76 years for men and 79.8 years for women, both longer than in the United States. The infant mortality rate in Costa Rica is less than that in the United States. The United Nations consistently ranks Costa Rica’s public health system in the top 20 worldwide and the best in Latin America.

With a government-sponsored network of 29 hospitals and more than 250 clinics throughout the country, the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) has primary responsibility for providing low cost health services to the Costa Rican populace. Open not just to Costa Ricans, the CCSS provides affordable medical service to any foreign resident or visitor. Foreigners living in Costa Rica can join the CCSS by paying a small monthly fee--based on their income-- or they can buy a very inexpensive but through health insurance from the State monopoly Instituto de Seguro Nacional (INS) valid with over 200 affiliated doctors, hospitals, labs and pharmacies in the private sector.

http://www.costaricarealtyone.com/HealthcareinCR.htm

Limbaugh is going to exile himself in a country with universal healthcare? It sounds like he took to heart what the Palin family did back in the 1960's...abandoned the "best healthcare system in the world" for affordable, dependable universal care for foreigners in a different country.

Either Limbaugh is just plain stupid or his staff doesn't do very good research? Or maybe he's cheap and doesn't want to pay for anything?

Afghanistan had American-paid universal healthcare when Bush was still in office? Now that's interesting.

Republican Trickle Down economics turned out to be bailouts only for the idle rich with pensions or safety nets for the middle class....

Market rebounds, but workers have minimal savings

By David Pitt, Ap Personal Finance Writer

DES MOINES, Iowa – Tom Taormina is 65 and has no retirement savings.

The Virginia City, Nev., business consultant said it's not for lack of trying. He and his wife, Midge, have tried to save and at one time invested in the stock market, but it's all been depleted.

"We're scrambling to make it through the next 20 years," he said. "We're doing everything we can to set money aside, but every time we do something unforeseen comes up."

They've downsized and cut expenses. He no longer drives a leased Lexus and now sits behind the wheel of a 2008 Subaru Forester. He also brought in an investor on to help with his business, The Taormina Group Inc., a business consulting firm.

Once a quality control engineer with Ford Aerospace at Mission Control, he'll get a pension of $140 a month, but that's the extent of his planned retirement income.

His retirement plan consists of selling the business in 2014 and continuing on the lecture circuit. An author of 10 books on business and process management, he hopes to continue writing for additional income.

His wife, who is 60, retired for about 12 years when his business was growing, but she's returned to work as a teacher's aide to help pay for health insurance, he said.

Like many workers their age, retirement isn't an option right now.

The prolonged recession is making it harder for many workers to set aside money for retirement.

A new survey released Tuesday by the Employee Benefit Research Institute shows the percentage of workers who say they've saved for retirement slid to 69 percent in January, down from 75 percent in 2009.

Perhaps more alarming is the increasing number of workers who say they have little or no retirement savings.

More than a quarter of those surveyed said they have less than $1,000 set aside. That's less than a mortgage payment for many homeowners.

The trend is largely the result of the financial markets dragging account levels down and some workers tapping into the accounts after they or their spouse lost a job, EBRI's research director Jack VanDerhei said.

David Burrows, 38, of Dallas, said he had to cash out one of two IRAs to help pay bills after closing down his advertising agency recently and laying off eight employees.

While he's looking for a management level job, he's doing freelance marketing work. His wife, Margaret, is continuing to contribute to her 401(k) at work but at the minimal match level for now, he said.

Saving for retirement is important to them, but conditions right now require intense focus on keeping up with bills. "I'm trying to budget for everything else and my IRA replenishment is on the back burner right now until we can move things forward," he said. Any extra money is going into an emergency fund instead of retirement savings.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100309/ap_on_bi_ge/us_retirement_confidence

Do you think the Let's "Wean Them" off Social Security and Medicare, the Michelle Bachmann and official GOP position, is going to have many takers among voters this November?

The middle class has always avoided work their entire lives according to Tom DeLay, who is pulling down so many socialist government checks while he waits for his criminal trial that he can't count them?

Gee, St. Reagan and the Bushies really were selling Voodoo Economics after all? "Let the little people eat cake while they wait in emergency rooms for basic healthcare."

DC School Voucher Update
Thanks for responding to our call to action last week on Senator Joe Lieberman's plan to revive the failed DC school voucher program by attaching an amendment to a moving Senate bill. Fortunately, Senator Lieberman and his co-sponsors were dissuaded from offering the amendment on HR 4213 as we had anticipated. Thanks to your efforts, we have communicated to the Senate that we are serious about stopping his expansion efforts.

Senator Lieberman may still try to propose this amendment, and if and when he does, rest assured that we will spring into action to do everything in our power to stop him - and we’ll need your help again.

If you haven't sent your Senators a message urging them to oppose an expansion of this program, send a message now!

It looks like that was a pedifile not gay Vatican choir scandal...


Georg Ratzinger, Pope's Brother, Linked To Child Abuse Scandal Rocking Church In Germany

03-09-10
Jerome Taylor, The Independent

A series of allegations in Germany and Holland have plunged the Catholic Church into a renewed crisis over how it has dealt with child abuse after it emerged that the Pope's brother ran a renowned choir at the centre of some of the latest claims.

Reports of systematic historical abuse by clergy have surfaced at three schools in the Regensburg diocese in Bavaria. One of them is the much-heralded Regensburger Domspatzen, a thousand-year-old male choir and boarding school, whose choral master for 30 years was the Pope's older brother, Georg Ratzinger....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/09/georg-ratzinger-popes-bro_n_491449.html

Maybe Burd is a choir director in Germany?

Why do these kids have to stay at a boarding school? It's been going on for at least a thousand years? I thought the Dark Ages ended around then. I'm beginning to understand why so many fled Europe for religious freedom in this country.

It looks like Jim Jones and David Koresh were only trying to catch up on the Catholic model for Protestants? You have to wonder what's been going on over there at the 700 Club, Focus on the Family, and other big box churches. The C Street Christians were only avoiding paying real estate taxes and dealing with adultery?

Let's not even think about how Mormons once advocated child brides and multiple wives. Is there really any reason to give any church a tax exemption when this sort of behavior is being condoned by the leadership?

bbl.

Since WHEN have Repugs ever cared what the majority of Americans need or want???? huh? Name me one thing they every proposed or installed, that was for the good of the American people, and desired by them!!!!!!! ONE!~!!!!

Hurry now, I will be waiting.

Skip trickle down-----we have all learned that that did not work except for the Corporations.

ALSO skip Tax cuts for the wealthy----that did not help Americans at all.

OH___and that illegal invasion into Iraw???? 4300 US troops dies for that mistake.

So don't let the cat get your tongue----you tell us when the Republicans ever went by majority vote !!!!!!!!!!!!!

3)Rush Limbaugh did NOT say he was moving to Costa Rica.

He said he might have to go there for Health care...

Right, universal healthcare. Because he's so poor from paying so many taxes that he can't live here any longer. Always looking for a handout just like when he was on welfare back in Missouri.

He said if Obama passes his Health care plan the Doctors would leave the US...

And go to a country that has universal health care like the Palin Clan did. We have it on the authority of those that let the RNC clothe them in the best designer labels for free and raided the Oscar goodie bags.

Why pay like the rest of the world when Republicans can find a way for others to do it for them? It's TARP 101.

Then there are the locusts, the leeches in this country, like Dufus Dan, who sits on his lard ass, after delivering papers in the early morning, waiting for their SS check to go into their mail box, thanks to liberals in the past. They call the Dr. to make an appt and give their Medicare number that Liberals got for him. He calls his Veterans association where he gets almost free prescriptions, thanks to some liberal in the past. His old lady goes down and gets free cheese from the truck some liberal helped get going. The poor slob does not have to work more than 8 hour day, thanks to some liberal. Her air and water are clean thanks to liberals. And the Rxs she takes for her mental condition have been approved by the FDA, thanks to a liberal !!!!!!!

You, Dufus and your leech of a spouse, are two examples, why Health reform and Health care for all is needed !!!!!!!!!! You suck off the Government tit every single day!!!

Dufus----don't think for One single moment, that if and when Esme rings charges against you, and the SS tracks you down-----that there are not a dozen witnesses of what you have done to not only Jacque-----but to RJ who never bothered you in his life, to ME and my daughter and MINOR Grandson.

You see, we have many people that would LOVE to see you frog marched out of your hovel, and shoved into the back of a sheriff car, never to be seen again, homeland terrorist that you are.

PamB3 on March 9, 2010 at 01:31 PM

He better worry about his hacking around inside the Election Board's computers. That's a felony that could get him into a federal prison with the Al Queada suspects.

You better figure out which direction Mecca is and start practicing now on bending over in the appropriate way, Skippy.

hahaha, Sandy, I just posted an article the other day, saying how far behind the DNC, that the RNC was for contributions! WHO in their right mind wants to give money to these pigs in office now? And why these trolls here never put their money where their pie holes are, bewilders me !!!

Whenever Dufus Dannyboy has not answers, knows he has been bested by his superiors, he goes into attack mode! that's ok, Dufus, we KNOW you could not come up with any answers. You chose the wrong party to back, and it kills you to have to admit that the Republicans are now down to 20% of any Americans having the balls to admit they belong to the party. Always in the minority, aren't you, but then based on your low IQ, why wouldn't you be???? ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

If you are interested in supporting the guy looking to replace Joe Wilson, here is the opportunity.

Six months ago, we all stood shocked as Joe Wilson turned political opposition into a childish outburst during a presidential address. The entire nation found out what we in South Carolina have known for a long time: Joe Wilson isn't representing his constituents, and he has to go.

Yesterday, I asked you all to dig deep and show that our grassroots support is the best in the country. Your response was overwhelming.

Our original goal was to raise $10,000 in 24 hours; you did it in four. We raised our goal to $20,000, and you beat that too. We raised $20,200 in 24 hours!

Washington isn't listening, and Joe's childish outburst is just one example. We need someone in Congress with the courage of their convictions. Leadership isn't about "tough votes" and partisan games. It's about the certainty of action that comes with doing what's right, and I'm honored to have your support.

Semper Fi,

Rob Miller

Wonder how many Repugs will be affected by this????

Defaulted Loans May Haunt Seniors

A little–noticed law could soon result in smaller Social Security checks for hundreds of thousands of the elderly and disabled who owe the U.S. money from defaulted loans and other debts more than a decade old.

Social Security benefits are off–limits to creditors, such as credit–card companies and banks. But the U.S. can collect debts to federal agencies by "offsetting," or withholding Social Security and disability payments.

The Treasury currently withholds benefits of 3.1 million Social Security recipients to recover defaulted student–, farm– and small–business loans, unpaid income taxes, amounts veterans owe for health care, and other debts to the government.

Previously, the U.S. hasn't been able to withhold Social Security payments to recover most debts delinquent for more than ten years.

But a provision in the 2008 Farm Bill lifted the ten–year statute of limitations on the government's ability to withhold Social Security benefits in collecting debts other than student loans—for which the statute of limitations was lifted in 1997—and income taxes, where the limit remains 10 years.

This means that a person who defaulted on a small–business loan in 1995, for example, and who is receiving Social Security could be notified that his benefits may be reduced each month until the debt, with interest, fees, and penalties, is paid. The Treasury can withhold 15% of the benefit, though it can't be reduced to below $750. Tax debts have no floor.

bbl.......

Whoopee, i see the brain dead republican troll from shitting shitzona got zapped.

Thanks moderators.

What does it matter if Canada had socialized medicine or not at the time? As non residents the Palin family would have been cash customers anyway.

then don't let me hear ANY of you idiots, say this country has the best coverage-----or socialized health care is no good because you have to wait for it, etc, etc, etc.

that is called Hypocrisy, old man, HYPOCRISY !!!!!

Religiosity's religionist's are the dumbest people on the planet.

Don't take it personally jacq, that's my belief and i have a right to my opinion.

Religion is screwing up the whole world in my opinion.

Religion is why nothing is getting done to better man kind.

Good afternoon fellow Americans.

a follow up to the one on Obama inheriting Bush's Deficit!!!!!

But there is one rather important detail that makes a big difference. The chart is based on the assumption that the current administration should be blamed for the 2009 fiscal year. While this makes sense to a casual observer, it is largely untrue. The 2009 fiscal year began October 1, 2008, nearly four months before Obama took office. The budget for the entire fiscal year was largely set in place while Bush was in the White House. So is we update the chart to show the Bush fiscal years in green, we can see that Obama is partly right in claiming that he inherited a mess (though Obama actually deserves a small share of the blame for Bush’s last deficit since earlier this year he pushed through both an “omnibus” spending bill and the so-called stimulus bill that increased FY2009 spending).

The one hundred different kinds of religion or more is what is screwing up everything, and always has, ALWAYS.

Label me anything you want to, but religiosity's are the most duped people on planet earth.

Example thou shall not kill, but yet most every war is over a different religion. That kills, kills, kills, kills, kills.....Go Figure.

Its not OIL, its RELIGION period.

And hatred over one religion to another, period.

My take on the whole scenario is your All crazy.

chassie321 on March 9, 2010 at 04:10 PM

Religion, my friend, is the glue that holds society together, IMHO. It is the fear of God that, primarily, keeps us from devolving into anarchy. While you're absolutely correct to point out the small minorities that warp a religion, whether that be Islamic terrorists, Jewish fundamentalists, Christian groups such as the 700 Club or Focus on the Family, or the Indian religions fighting over Kashmir, you're judging entire religions by the actions of a few.

A prime example would be that less than one percent of Catholic priests have ever sexually assaulted anyone. Yet, by the news coverage, you'd have been led to believe this was a common practice. The same applies to Islamic terrorists. 90%+ of Muslims want to live in peace, raise their children to be good, God fearing citizens, and live happily ever after. Yet, to hear the GOP tell it, all Muslims are bad for a myriad of empty reasons.

There are valid reasons to get angry at various heads of religious organizations. This is especially true when they attempt to force their religious beliefs upon someone who does not subscribe to their religious beliefs. But is it fair to judge an entire religions by the actions of a few? I think not.

39
chassie321 on March 9, 2010 at 04:10 PM

Actually, it's the MIS-use of religion that is screwing up the world. When certain loonies appropriate religion to push their own weird goals is when we have to watch out and hold on to our wallets.

If people want to express their beliefs quietly and privately, then by all means let them.

When they want to force THEIR particular slant on it down people's throats, then THAT is where I draw the line.

It's time for the IRS to take a closer look at some of these political outfits getting tax free "Church" exemptions.

I knew that i would raize some ire, on the religion issue, GOOD.

Bob you say that religion is the glue thats holds everything together, i disagree 2000 percent.

Tell me how religion does this when its glue is so elastic that it stretches from here to the sun.

Senate Staffers Warned to Stay Clear of Drudge Report

FOXNews.com

The Senate's official gatekeeper, said the Drudge Report, a conservative news aggregator, and whitepages.com "are responsible for the many viruses popping up throughout the Senate," according to an e-mail to the Environment and Public Works Committee.

In the very body sworn to protect and defend the Constitution, an e-mail is circulating warning U.S. Senate staffers not to view one of the most popular news sites on the Web, claiming it could spread computer viruses.

The Senate Sergeant-at-Arms, the chamber's official gatekeeper, said the Drudge Report, a news aggregator, and whitepages.com, a telephone directory site, "are responsible for the many viruses popping up throughout the Senate," according to an e-mail from the Environment and Public Works Committee obtained by FoxNews.com.

Another e-mail from a separate office warned that staffers who had visited the Drudge Report or White Pages had experienced viruses on their PCs.

"Please avoid using these sites until the Senate resolves this issue," the e-mail read. "The Senate has been swamped the last couples (sic) days with this issue...

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/09/senate-warns-staffers-stay-clear-drudge-report/

So not only does Drudge spread conservative propaganda but it spreads viruses as well. What should we expect. After all, they're only Republicans.

chassie321 on March 9, 2010 at 04:35 PM

I agree with Doo-Bee's post at 1627EST. We should have the IRS swoop in on these so-called religious organizations like Dobson's Focus on the Family and Robertson's 700 Club.

But to answer your question, religion, or more accuratly, the fear of God is what keeps us from devolving into anarchy. Why would a person not care to murder another, in cold blood, if the threat of eternity in hell was not there? There is nothing wrong with religion. There is something wrong with a number who practice religion especially when they practice in a way to only serve their purpose instead of God's purpose.

Clean Up Your Own Back Yard
Elvis Presley

Back porch preacher preaching at me
Acting like he wrote the golden rules
Shaking his fist and speeching at me
Shouting from his soap box like a fool
Come Sunday morning he's lying in bed
With his eye all red, with the wine in his head
Wishing he was dead when he oughta be
Heading for Sunday school
Clean up your own backyard
Oh don't you hand me none of your lines
Clean up your own backyard
You tend to your business, I'll tend to mine
Drugstore cowboy criticizing
Acting like he's better than you and me
Standing on the sidewalk supervising
Telling everybody how they ought to be
Come closing time 'most every night
He locks up tight and out go the lights
And he ducks out of sight and he cheats on his wife
With his employee
Clean up your own backyard
Oh don't you hand me none of your lines
Clean up your own backyard
You tend to your business, I'll tend to mine
Armchair quarterback's always moanin'
Second guessing people all day long
Pushing, fooling and hanging on in
Always messing where they don't belong
When you get right down to the nitty-gritty
Isn't it a pity that in this big city
Not a one a'little bitty man'll admit
He could have been a little bit wrong
Clean up your own backyard
Oh don't you hand me, don't you hand me none of your lines
Clean up your own backyard
You tend to your business, I'll tend to mine
Clean up your own backyard
You tend to your business, I'll tend to mine

Good afternoon, all.

What does it matter if Canada had socialized medicine or not at the time? As non residents the Palin family would have been cash customers anyway...

It matters because after given a choice Palin's parents chose socialized medicine over "the best healthcare system in the world". You think they didn't compare before shelling out their own money? You betcha they did.

Republicans wouldn't even let Americans buy drugs in Canada because they said they weren't safe. Yeah, sure. Palin's brother is walking around on one leg today because he was treated with unsafe drugs in an inferior healthcare system?

It's not just that conservatives are hypocrites, it's that they are also greedy opportunists and obstructionists. Where is our freedom and liberty with Republicans holding power?

It's perfectly OK for them to partake in a socialized medical system, but they prohibit their fellow countrymen the privilege here at home? It's perfectly OK for them to seek abortions elsewhere but American women are prohibited the same chose here?

What you are saying is that those that have the money and mobility have a choice.

Everyone else is at the mercy of the whims of the rich and conservative? Who died and crowned you knuckleheads royalty?

Feds Move to Break Voting-Machine Monopoly

By Kim Zetter

March 8, 2010 | 6:34 pm

Citing anti-competitive concerns, the Justice Department sued Election Systems & Software in order to force the company to divest itself of the voting machine assets it obtained from Premier Election Solutions last year.

The department’s antitrust division, along with nine state attorneys general, filed the civil antitrust lawsuit (.pdf) in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., charging that the acquisition threatened competition. The department proposed a settlement that, if accepted, would dissolve the merger and force ES&S to sell its Premier business to a buyer approved by the Justice Department.

“The proposed settlement (.pdf) will restore competition, provide a greater range of choices and create incentives to provide secure, accurate and reliable voting-equipment systems now and in the future,” said Molly S. Boast, deputy assistant attorney general for the antitrust division in a statement.

The nine states that joined the suit are Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Tennessee and Washington.

Last September, Premier (formerly Diebold Election Systems) announced that ES&S had purchased the company for $5 million in cash, plus 70 percent of revenue collected on existing accounts through the end of August 2009...

Read More http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/03/ess-sued-in-antitrust-cas/#ixzz0hiejg67u

It's about time the DOJ busted up this monopoly. Diebold was nothing more than a shell company for the RNC, IMHO. It's nice to see Atty. Gen. Holder doing something positive. Now if we could get him to pursue the previous administration's war criminals and the right-wing reactionary tea partiers, the U.S. would be a much better place.

Sandy, sweetheart, you are remarkable, you got a gift. YOU SHOULD RUN FOR CONGRESS WOMAN!!!! Really i mean it, you are very gifted.

Your much smarter then you give your self credit for.

Go for it girl, we only live ONCE, we'll all be right behind you urging you on.

Now for a stroll down memory lane to when St. Reagan was encouraging hostile takeovers (to increase productivity he said...hahah) and corporate raiders were destroying perfectly profitable companies and rendering them insolvent......

ASSOCIATED PRESS
03/09/2010

It took more than two years, nearly $12 million in fees and a billionaire's bargain-basement bid, but the Tropicana Casino and Resort has been salvaged by its sale to Carl Icahn.

The $200 million deal completed Monday marks the activist investor's return to Atlantic City, and ends one of the most tortured casino sales in U.S. history.

Icahn bought the casino out of bankruptcy for 80 percent less than what it was expected to fetch before the recession hit...

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/story/0E350FF8C68CE14D862576E1000B1042?OpenDocument

Finally, the rich conservative bastards are officially in the gaming trade. Let's hope they stay out of government,industry, and the stock market from now on. If we could get them out of the Middle Eastern oil fields, that would be a positive sign as well.

Rep Massa is on Glen Beck right now. Be there...

Since no major advertiser is supporting Beck's program these days, you feel it necessary to do promos for him each and every afternoon?

Nobody here was watching him before your started this daily dose of hyping his guests. Nobody is going to watch him in the future even if you tell us he's going to tap dance with Larry Craig on his next show.

Do you have any idea how desperate you're making Beck appear? He's doing a good job of it without your help.

BobVADemocratHawk on March 9, 2010 at 05:02 PM

Bob,

You hit the nail right on the head. That's the problem with everything in this country...monopolies.

The Republicans created so many monopolies we can't compete in the world any longer. It's why we can't afford anything in this country any longer. It's why the Republicans think they are royalty with the exclusive right to determine what all the rest of us can think or do.

They've created the opposite of a capitalistic society.

Free markets? The conservatives gambled them all away after they drained all the assets into their own pockets....to gamble them away, too.

chassie321 on March 9, 2010 at 05:29 PM

Not to mention all of those "off the books" war supplements passed between 2002 and 2009.

chassie321 on March 9, 2010 at 05:08 PM

Thanks but you are making me blush. I just might have to run if McCaskill doesn't support the public option of at least the healthcare bill. We're all hoping that Obama can twist her arm while he's in town tomorrow.

Maybe he should have Rahm kick her in the ass instead to start earning his keep?

I'd settle for a horse's head in her bed at this point. I suppose that wouldn't work with Blanche Lincoln because she already sleeps with one...or one of two Republicans?

Good night fellow Americans. Keep the Faith and keep the faith. Yes we can, yes we will, and yes we did!

...For all those whose cares have been our concern; the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.

I'll be in Vegas for the next week, or so, depending on how well I do at the tables. It's been over a year since I've had a bona fide vacation and I am certainly looking forward to it. God bless, good night, and good luck!

BobVADemocratHawk on March 9, 2010 at 04:39 PM

I always knew Matt Drudge was a worm. Now we have proof.

Good night fellow Americans. Keep the Faith and keep the faith. Yes we can, yes we will, and yes we did!

...For all those whose cares have been our concern; the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.

I'll be in Vegas for the next week, or so, depending on how well I do at the tables. It's been over a year since I've had a bona fide vacation and I am certainly looking forward to it. God bless, good night, and good luck!

Stevieboy, you are showing your alZheimers. What part of this is too complex for your thick swede skull?

The 2009 fiscal year began October 1, 2008, nearly four months before Obama took office. The budget for the entire fiscal year was largely set in place while Bush was in the White House. So is we update the chart to show the Bush fiscal years in green, we can see that Obama is partly right in claiming that he inherited a mess (though Obama actually deserves a small share of the blame for Bush’s last deficit since earlier this year he pushed through both an “omnibus” spending bill and the so-called stimulus bill that increased FY2009 spending

You look just like an ass!
ps, who really cares about Massa and Beck? Scraping the bottom of the barrel again, are you?????

I always knew Matt Drudge was a worm. Now we have proof.

Sandy, a Gay worm that is too cowardly to come out of the closet!!!

Playoff for Big East tonight. Should be a great game.

And here's another way to break up those Republican-engineered monopolies...

AIG is selling off American Life

By IEVA M. AUGSTUMS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
03/09/2010

American International Group Inc. said Monday that it will sell its American Life Insurance Co. division for $15.5 billion to MetLife Inc. The government-approved deal, AIG's second big asset sale in two weeks, will give the insurer more cash to repay the billions of bailout dollars it still owes the government...

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/story/1765AB23BE58F887862576E100124D85?OpenDocument

I sometimes think the only reason most Congressional Democrats went along with the TARP (besides the fact they knew that Bush had no idea what had happened and his advisers couldn't tell them how bad it was going to get) was because so many retirees had their life savings in annuities.

Having already lost most of the value of their homes, the stock market crashed, and interest rates so low on CDs, what else besides Social Security would they live on during a Bush Great Depression? So many had already had to go back to work by the summer of 2008 because of how high their utilities, gasoline, and even foodstuff commodities like milk/eggs had become. sally* may have forgotten how speculative prices had become that summer, but I assure you my children never will.

When you canvass as much as I have, you know where the true suffering would have been if John McCain had become president. After he chose Palin as his running mate, most seniors suspected the worse as well. Although, there are still some Reagan Democrats who are blissfully unaware of how unsafe their investments are to this day.

Most of our parents never diversified. They were sitting ducks for the financial banker vultures that the Republicans let lose on the world to circle around just these types of seniors, the only economic group that hadn't mortgaged themselves to the hilt.

I suppose that Republicans won't be content till they get it all from the Greatest Generation and then complain that these seniors never worked or saved enough...that their Social Security and Medicare are drains on the economy and must go.

It's hard to believe that anyone would be so conniving and insensitive to the vulnerable, but you know that the Heritage Foundation, John Birchers, and the rest of their ilk couldn't have planned it better if they tried.

PamB3 on March 9, 2010 at 06:13 PM

Are you all fired up and ready to go to San Antonio?

PamB3 on March 9, 2010 at 06:12 PM

Feminists have been lumped together with gays and minorities by bigots since the beginning of the Women's Suffrage Movement in 1780 and came to its lowest point in the concentration camps of the Third Reich. You think you're insulting me? I'm honored by the company.

You might as well compare me to Jesus. Palin certainly feels she deserves to put herself in the Lord's company. Am I not as worthy as she in His eyes? You can write that down on your palms so you don't forget it.

Womens, basketball is awesome, talk about a bunch of Hotties. WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!!!!!

Here you go Stevie this ought to keep you busy for awhile, the 100 hottest girls of 2009.

Notice the Post Turtle is not one of them.

http://www.popcrunch.com/the-popcrunch-one-hundred-hottest-women-of-2009/

The women actually are not so tall that they can play the game the way it was intended. But then if it's so boring, why do the men of the NBA give it such high praise?

You are soooo easily bored...because you have no intellectual curiosity and are a bore yourself? You work as a RNC intern?

HaHaHaHoHoHoHeeHeeHee on March 9, 2010 at 06:44 PM

Those car mats are reaching out and grabbing people's feet if not the entire electrical system? It's sort of like Bush re-programmed the economic rules and drove the country over a cliff.

Or maybe he was just doing drugs or doing what Cheney told him?

The responding officer, Todd Neibert, positioned his patrol car in front of the Prius as a precaution to prevent it from moving again...

Yankee ingenuity scores again.

Give that officer a promotion for fast thinking and having faith in his American patrol car to do what the multinational foreign model couldn't.

The Republicans apparently haven't been able to outsource all of our best ideas and problem solving abilities...although they have certainly imported more than enough wacko excuses.

82 SandyH on March 9, 2010 at 06:54 PM

The Toyota Prius is a piece of crap designed to make people, ones who value "Mother Earth" more than their own safety or that of their families, feel good. And at a high price too.

Did you ever see that data on just how big the carbon footprint is on one of those electric skateboards? The batteries alone are enough to make any self-respecting liberal cringe let alone buy one.

Toyota Prius - The Numbers

The Prius' battery contains nickel, which is mined in Ontario Canada. The plant that smelts this nickel is apparently nicknamed "the Superstack" because of the amount of pollution it puts out; the area for miles around it is a wasteland because of acid rain and air pollution.

But the main problem that the "Dust to Dust" study has with the Prius' impact on the environment comes next.

That smelted nickel then has to travel (via container ship) to Europe to be refined, then to China to be made into "nickel foam," then to Japan for assembly, and finally to the United States. All this shipment for each tiny step in the production process costs a great deal, both in dollars and in pollution.

The study then concludes that -- all the production costs in mind -- the Prius costs about $3.25 per mile and is expected to last about 100,000 miles. The Hummer, on the other hand, with all the same factors counted, costs about $1.95 per mile and is expected to last about 300,000 miles.

Kind of make you feel good huh?

81
SandyH on March 9, 2010 at 06:50 PM

It's cuz Frosty* doesn't like sports, and doesn't like women.

He just wants to BE a woman.

And be a "good sport".

Still not looking for a job, Thumbass?

HAHAHAHAHOOOOOHEEEEEHAAAA?

Oh you don't say Harpie, (Nickel) Hum, one question for you idiot what is stainless steel made from?? Its every where you damn fool.

And has been long before any foreign countries got are jobs, you stupid idiot.

You done went and let your mouth over load your corncob ass again.

My father used to say this about people who bought lightweight foreign cars instead of heavy American made ones.

"The true price of fuel economy is paid at the moment of impact."

Especially back in the 1980s when so many lives were lost when those cheaply made clown cars ran into good old Detroit Iron or a bridge abutment. The headlights ended up tucked in under the dash board and so did the front seat passengers.

The study then concludes that -- all the production costs in mind -- the Prius costs about $3.25 per mile and is expected to last about 100,000 miles

Posted by Harpie, which is total B/S, the Prius is not even due for a tune up for the first 100,000 miles. Harpie you lie and your pants are on fire fact check it idiot.

..................................................................................................

You can call a Toyota dealership and ask to speak to their parts department. They can give you the part numbers and prices for either generation of the Prius nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery. Either of those batteries cost just under $3000.

Toyota has NEVER had to replace a NiMH battery in a Prius under normal use. By normal I mean a Prius that has not been in an accident or abused, like other people have posted. The advertised life expectancy for the batteries is 150,000 miles, or ten years. However...

The current record for a Prius with the original system and battery is over 360,000 miles. That is not a typo.

The expenses you should expect are these:
1. oil changes every 3000 miles, like on all vehicles
2. 15,000 mile services performed by a Toyota dealer
3. tire rotations every other oil change, like on all vehicles (buy a digital tire gauge for $10-15 and check the pressure 2X a week, forget the $2 stick gauges, 35 psi front and 33 psi rear, a pound or two over won't hurt)
4. the Goodyear Integritys are specialty tires (low rolling resistance), just like on a sports car or a truck and will need to be replaced somewhere around 30-40,000 miles. They run about $96 each.
5. the first tune up on the gas engine is at 100,000 miles
6. the CVT is a sealed unit and you do not flush it like a regular transmission, expect about 90,000 mile fluid changes
7. don't use anything over E85, the higher alchohol content from the ethanol cuts down on mileage (on all vehicles, not just the Prius)

There you go, let me know if you need any other info.
Source(s):
I teach about hybrids and advanced tech for Toyota.

This is not 1980 Harpie, this is 2010, us liberals have made many improvements to safety standards since 1980. ( We did it by sueing your coporate overlords idiot ) I guess you was in a cave, riding dinosaurs.

Good night all you good De ms, gawd Pugs live in the darkest conner, of Conner's don't they?

And has been long before any foreign countries got are jobs, you stupid idiot.

Chassie, what does the above sentence mean?

My father used to say this about people who bought lightweight foreign cars instead of heavy American made ones.

hey Thomassssssss---Wonder what your
Father would say----about the kind of men who go into opposing view blogs----attack people with vile, vicious, nasty, non-manly attack, who use racism, homophobia, and just plain ignorance??????

hmmmmmm? How about you tell us---inquiring minds would like to know. Would Daddy approve, Thomassssss? Or would he be so ashamed of what he had spawn, he would tell you you were not his son????????? I sure know Mommy Tommy would be humiliated beyond belief !

You're a tiny man, thomasssss. Face it !

poor, poor Dufus Dan. Has to go to bed early, so he can get up for his job he had to go back to.

Remember when he used to gloat how he was ENJOYING his retirement??? ahahahaha, wonder what he says now. He is either delivering morning newspapers, or making donuts at a Dunkin Donut!! Poor pitiful wretch.

LMAO at the picture of him working at his age !!!!! Serves the old bastid right !

Stevie boy does not like Women's basketball, because his little sawed off plump daughter did not engage in ANY sports. Like Father, like daughter. Just like a wart on an ass-----she went thru High School with no achievments. Barely made it thru, even with an extra year under her belt. (she was what----19 when she finally got out, Stevieboy?)

Yawnnnnnnnnn, so boring---yes you are Stevieboy. After 6 years of your sick, retarded bullshit over and over----you are truly boring !!!!!!!!!!!

Have a good evening, Dems...........

Good evening, all.

Had to make dinner and watch Lost. Sorry if I left anyone hanging.

Public Pension Funds Are Adding Risk to Raise Returns

by Mary Williams Walsh
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
provided by
The New York Times

States and companies have started investing very differently when it comes to the billions of dollars they are safeguarding for workers' retirement.

Companies are quietly and gradually moving their pension funds out of stocks. They want to reduce their investment risk and are buying more long-term bonds.

But states and other bodies of government are seeking higher returns for their pension funds, to make up for ground lost in the last couple of years and to pay all the benefits promised to present and future retirees. Higher returns come with more risk.

"In effect, they're going to Las Vegas," said Frederick E. Rowe, a Dallas investor and the former chairman of the Texas Pension Review Board, which oversees public plans in that state. "Double up to catch up."

Though they generally say that their strategies are aimed at diversification and are not riskier, public pension funds are trying a wide range of investments: commodity futures, junk bonds, foreign stocks, deeply discounted mortgage-backed securities and margin investing. And some states that previously shunned hedge funds are trying them now...

http://finance.yahoo.com/retirement/article/109020/public-pension-funds-are-adding-risk-to-raise-returns?sec=topStories&pos=5&asset=&ccode=

You can bet states controlled by Republicans are taking the biggest risks with their employees' money. What do those irresponsible conservatives care if long-time workers get caught with no pension?

But you can be sure that they will make sure their own pensions are covered after only serving a few terms...in several levels of government...so they can get several pensions.

What a racket. And this is from conservatives who are always preaching about self-sufficiency and personal responsibility?

BobVADemocratHawk on March 9, 2010 at 05:45 PM

Bob,

Hope you have a super vacation and win more money than my 401k paid out in the last few years.

Enjoy yourself and forget about politics. The Republicans will still be here stalling when you come back. You can bet on it.

WHAT CRAP! Erkle inherited a $400 billion deficit...

What is it with you compulsive conservative liars? Over half of the money Bush and his Republican Majority Congress spent was off the books. The TARP alone was more than the $400 billion you're talking about.

How did you guys pay for the Iraqi and Afghanistan Wars? How did you pay for all those tax breaks for the top 2%? How did you pay for all the graft such as war profiteering, subsidies for businesses that operate and outsource overseas, and non-bid contracts? How did you pay for Larry Craig's fines?

When you add up all the corruption, pork barrel spending, Wall Street bailouts, bank failures, and embedded cronyism with welfare for the wealthy, we still don't know how much Bush's deficit is yet. You can be sure it will be higher than Reagan's deficit.

I'd think you would be more knowledgable on the subject since conservatives always leave a deficit behind them. But then you do know, don't you, and are just lying as usual when you don't want to face the hard facts about your failed ideology?

Sorry, I don't watch Faux News or open any virus- infected videos produced by James O'Keefe.

Where were you doing 2008? In jail? Everyone else seems to remember when the country went into the toilet except you.

My personal best memory was McCain saying he was going to suspend his campaign (and conveniently not show up for the second debate which he knew he would lose) because of Bush's economic meltdown. He insisted that he and Obama drop everything and fly to Washington immediately to meet with Bush, who was very annoyed that someone thought he might know what the hell was going on.

So where were you from say the time gasoline and milk went up to over $4 a gallon (and Greenspan announced that we had been in a recession since 2007) to when Paulson got down on both knees begging Pelosi to save him?

Everything was honky dory with your life while waiting for your Wall Street bonus knowing that the TARP money would be rolling in soon? And also knowing that you wouldn't have to pay a dime of taxes on it because Bush's welfare for the wealthy would still be in force?

Nah. You're retired getting socialist government checks and universal healthcare for seniors but still having to work to make ends meet. But it's nice to pretend that the Republicans care about you, right?

Good night, all.

poor widdle justice roberts....he be offended by his treatment at the sotus.....awwww............

""So I have no problems with that," he said. "On the other hand, there is the issue of the setting, the circumstances and the decorum. The image of having the members of one branch of government standing up, literally surrounding the Supreme Court, cheering and hollering while the court — according the requirements of protocol — has to sit there expressionless, I think is very troubling.""

on the udda hand the issues of racism, sexism, corporatism and dumb mf'erism are really troubling. why not just send scalia to these outings and have him go around wiping repelican ocngressfreaks noses with his tie?

Morning Gregg,

I think the problem with having the SCOTUS invited to the SOTU speech - that they have to remiin 'expressionless'.

LET THEM have to cheer, stand and applaud at things they agree with. I think there would be a lot of eye opening at their Bias against Americans, and those that benefit corporations!

they don't like being reprimanded? tough crap-----they are not God, even though they have come to believe they are! They too are paid to work for America.

there is a great quote:

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure."
— Clarence Darrow

I shall smile from ear to ear, reading of one of these Right Wing wackos demise !!

Now WHY would Israel, continue to think that the USA should stand back, support them, send them billions of dollars of money and war equipment, join in any wars they start----AND continue to do this kind of provacative actions !!!

Biden's Disastrous Israel Trip

Rather than focus primarily on kickstarting a peace process Israelis consider badly broken, the vice president's visit was intended to reassure the Israeli public that the Obama administration takes the threat posed by Iran seriously, and emphasizing that the U.S. is absolutely committed to Israeli security. But just as Biden arrived in Israel, the Interior Ministry announced the construction of 1,600 new housing units for Jewish residents in East Jerusalem, a move many, including many in the Obama administration, have interpreted as a deliberate provocation. The vice president put geniality aside to issue a stern and unambiguous statement: "I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units." The general consensus is that Prime Minister Netanyahu was discomfited by the timing, yet he has relatively little leverage over his right-of-center allies in his fractious coalition government. Though spokesmen for the Interior Ministry insist that the timing of the announcement had nothing to do with Biden's arrival, it's undoubtedly true that the move will enhance the nationalist 'street cred' of its architects. Moreover, East Jerusalem is viewed very differently from the West Bank and Gaza. A government announcement of a ten-month freeze on settlement construction did not include Jerusalem, and there is very little appetite for surrendering an inch of the city to a future Palestinian state.

Morning Pam,

There is a new thread.

The Scrotus should be replaced with progressives.

Did you hear about the demonstrations in Washington? They are going to do citizens' arrests of health insurance ceo's.

It seems that the rich insurance ceo's are having a conference in Washington to try to sink the health bill. I think we should put a stop to it.

No one is representing the American people. We are on our own and need to take whatever action necessary to make certain we get the health care bill passed.

We had a little snow last. Will it ever end?

Off to work.