Yep. Really do. Business can be fun.
Google changed their name today (for April Fool’s Day) to Topeka as a lighthearted reply to the mayor of Topeka, Kansas, who changed his town’s name a while back to “Google” for a month. Now why can’t we all get along like that?
And now for something lighter. Just when I thought watching politicians was rather dull, along comes Rep. Hank Johnson (GA) to remind me that it can occasionally be fun.
My fear is that the whole island (Guam) will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize.
These are the bright folks who gave us TARP, Medicare Part D, National Health Care and an unfunded war in Iraq. I sleep better at night knowing they are looking out for us. Next it is on to save Guam from tipping over. Too funny.
I fundamentally disagree with Chris Matthews on almost every political issue. That being said, I have always thought of him as a patriot and a man of integrity. And I love Hardball.
So I was pleased to see that Chris Matthews called his own party on the carpet for even considering “Deem and Pass” as a tactic to pass the largest piece of legislation since the TARP bill. Read Wednesday’s Hardball transcript here, but a few choice quotes follow:
My question is fairly simple: how do you demand an up or down vote in one chamber, and deny one in the other? You insisted on the right of the Senate to pass the reconciliation measure by an up or down majority vote. How can you refuse to have the co-equal House of Representatives to do the same?
The hypocrisy is pretty self evident, huh? I love this following quote best:
This vote to deem the health care bill to have passed the Senate would not only be noted by a Republican opponent, it would surely be weaponized.
So to conclude, Chris Matthews, the Health Care Reform supporting, Liberal Democrat said:
Again, the bottom line, you cannot demand an up or down vote in one chamber, the US Senate, and deny one in the House of Representatives, a body of men and women, Democrats, Republicans and independents, which has prided itself long before this health care fight, and will wish to do so years after it, as the people‘s House.
Thank you. And please remember (my dear conservative friends) that there is truth and sanity on “the other side” once in awhile. Stop watching FOX News exclusively and you might find it.
(Quotes from Hardball used under the Fair Use doctrine which allows political commentary.)
Nancy Pelosi is determined to win at any cost. According to the Washington Post as reprinted in CBS News, the Speaker is planning on using a “procedural sleight of hand” to push this bill through.
The Washington Post goes on to say:
The tactic — known as a “self-executing rule” or a “deem and pass” — has been commonly used, although never to pass legislation as momentous as the $875 billion health-care bill.
Essentially, this allows the cowardly lions of the House to vote for the Senate bill without voting for the Senate bill. Really. Speaker Pelosi has made it abundantly clear (again) that the “end justifies the means” in her comments yesterday:
I like it because people don’t have to vote on the Senate bill.
Every coward who votes for this “non vote” in the House should be summarily discharged from public office next November.
(My position on health care reform follows)
Lest I be accused of being a mindless Republican or an obstructionist drone, please continue reading.
I have consistently taken the position that Republicans should be blamed for never addressing the health care crisis in America. I worked for many years for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, and I know first hand the tricks that health insurance companies have used to deny coverage to people and the fine print used to deny claims. Their only defense has been the “level playing field defense” which in essence says (correctly) if we do something decent and moral, and our competitors don’t, we will be out of business. That is true. But what is also true is that the Health Insurance Industry never lobbied Congress or their state legislatures for a better playing field that would benefit the public.
So I am no friend of the Republican Party, and I have no pity on the health insurance industry.
My concerns about this current legislation are:
I am tired of the Democratic Leadership defending their appalling lack of transparency and their egregious violation of the spirit of the rules. Have the Republicans done the same thing many times? Yep. Just read my earlier posts about the TARP bill and how I felt about that. But two wrongs never made a right. Throw the bums out.
Things may be a changin’ in China… though China and Google deny it. According to MSNBC, Previously censored articles and photos are now available on Google searches in China. Regardless of public denial, I am confident that Google used their huge size and leverage to stand up to China, and behind the scenes (necessary for China to save face) Google has won a victory for free speech.
If this is indeed true, it is proof that Google remains the penultimate “do no evil” company on the Internet.
MSNBC did an excellent job of summarizing the “end game” of health care legislation. According to NBC’s Ken Stricklund,
Democrats must clear three hurdles in order to get to a final version of the health-care bill that most legislators in their party can live with.
Here is the showdown at the O.K. Corral:
There are many reasons to hate this bill, whether you are on the “Right” or the “Left” or somewhere in the middle like me. Pick a reason and call your Representative and beg them to vote “No” on this bill. I will be calling and emailing my Congressman Tim Walz.
I predict that this bill will pass the House, and then a feeble attempt will be made to pass a reconciliation bill. If a reconciliation bill (a big “if”) passes the House, it will die an ugly “sausage making” death in the Senate for many reasons. These reasons will include:
I believe this was a noble cause, and had the “party in power” been more transparent about the cost, stuck to principal and not given in to Washington Style Deal Making, and owned this bill like brave adults… maybe they could have convinced the country that they deserved a chance to make sweeping change. No one with a brain actually believes this thing is just one trillion dollars. And no one with a soul likes the secrecy and deal making that went into this bill.
So the Democrats come down to the end and they have to own the process as well as the outcome, or they have to “man up” and walk away from this. I never liked the Republicans for running from this issue when they were in power. But I like the Democrats even less for their Chicago Style Politics. Again they say with their actions that they believe “the end justifies the means.”
Not to me.
(Subtitled… “why people are weary of this thing”)
Ed Schultz (Host of The Ed Show on MSNBC) does more than spew hate on his radio and TV show- he teaches the “ends justify the means” philosophy that is hurting our country. Mom always said “two wrongs don’t make a right” and that is the philosophy public leaders need to espouse.
I do believe that “The Right” often violates ethical standards in an effort to achieve their goals. No doubt about it. But if Americans think that “The Left” is the better answer- listen again to Mr. Ed (the talking horse allusion is intended).
It is time we all stood up as Americans and demand better. Mr. Ed- shame on you.
Thanks to our blogging friend Doug Hester for posting this.
Google stood up today to China. We should applaud them and hope for more. It was reported that Google has threatened to pull out of China by discontinuing their previous policy of bowing to Chinese censorship.
Google is the quintessential “don’t be evil” company and we attest to the fact that they usually live that creed. But they have bowed to pressure from China and blocked political and religious websites form their search results in recent months. Google co-founder Sergey Brin has had concerns… now he and Google may act.
Google- please hear your millions of freedom loving fans and do the right thing. Stand up to China.
Regardless of one’s acceptance (or lack thereof) of “morals” and “faith” and other such unpopular terms today, at least we should all agree that to speak as a leader of a particular religion, one should not pervert the historic teachings of that religion.
I hardly think that the Anglican Church endorses the teachings of Father Tim Jones. For that matter, I doubt that any Christian leader has ever uttered such nonsense before (though I may be wrong).
My advice, as a Christian priest, is to shoplift.
And to make sure the finer points of theology are brought into this advice, Father Jones continues:
I would ask that they do not steal from small family businesses, but from large national businesses, knowing that the costs are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices.
Read the entire article and share with your kids so they can have a biblical foundation for stealing. That should play well with the grandparents.
