ELECTIONS
Because She is Carolyn Kennedy, That’s Why!
Have you um heard you know um this AP interview with you know Carolyn um Kennedy where um she you know discusses her um quest for the um you know New York Senate seat and why she is um you know um qualified? And they said that Sarah Palin gave lousy interviews! Wow. Where is the outrage over Kennedy’s inane answers much less her rambling unprofessional dialogue?
As painful as it is to listen to Kennedy talk, it is even worse when you read her interview. Perhaps that is why I couldn’t find a transcript of it anywhere on the internet. So I did it myself. But it was well worth transcribing Carolyn Kennedy’s words of wisdoms from this rare interview. Perhaps now it is understandable why she doesn’t give interviews although reading this will make you wonder about those books she has “written”. Anyway, here is the transcript of an interview from potentially the next Senator of New York:
“You know I think really um this is sort of a unique moment both in our you know in our country’s history and in in in you know in my own life. And um you know we are facing you know unbelievable challenges uh our economy, you know health care, people are losing their jobs here in NY obviously um particularly you know families are hurting, education is tough um and so um you know um for me um I’ve grown up here, I’ve lived here all my life, I love New York and and um {pause} you know I’m going into politics is something that people have asked me about forever. Even when I first just thought it in my own mind, you know I got you know people come up to me on the street, on the subway and just this morning walking over here on the subway and um you know they are like go for it you know we are rooting for you. Somebody dropped off 200 signs at my husband’s office two weeks ago uhm and so you know I thought well ok I really ought to take this seriously this is really an incredible opportunity and um and you know there are issues I really care about that are going to come up now. I, I come into this thinking I have to work twice as hard as anybody else and this is nobody is entitled to anything and certainly not certainly not me and um there are many qualified people in this and so um you know I I am an unconventional choice I understand that. I haven’t pursued the traditional path but I think that um in our public life today you know we are starting to see that there are many ways into public life and public service and its not um as you know all our institutions are less um hierarchical than they use to be and so you know I think that you know I bring you know my life experiences to this and you know that includes um you know being a mother um you know I understand sort of those choices women make that includes being a lawyer and written seven best selling books you know two on the constitution um you know anthologies about American history, and values, political courage, you know and I’ve really tried to encourage people to go into public service.”
Oh silly me! Of course I now understand why she should be selected as the next Senator of New York! If somebody drops off a couple of hundred signs then I suppose that you have to run, right? As for her qualifications, she has clearly thought through why she should be Senator. Well, maybe not. But let’s be fair to her. How could she possibly have known that somebody would actually ask her to explain why she should have that Senate seat? What nerve! She is Carolyn Kennedy and if she says she wants something then she gets it! And now she has decided to “serve the public” which I suppose is her version of noblesse oblige by helping the little people of New York. So stop asking her silly questions about being qualified and take back those ridiculous requests about her financial statements and give her the Senate seat she demands. For she is royalty and if you don’t know that, Ms. Kennedy and her liberal political and journalistic sycophants certainly do! Groveling may be optional but give her the NY Senate seat as she demands and no more questions!
(And if you can’t believe she comes across as stupid and vapid as the above dialogue suggests then hear her for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W85XJADEHxU&feature=mpt%3Atop_stories )
Senate for Sale
I feel sorry for New Yorkers. It seems as if they are destined to be represented by very famous people who are completely ignorant about their state, their needs, their problems. Hillary Clinton never lived in that state nor had she had any experience governing or politicking for herself until she decided she wanted to be the NY Senator. Was she a good Senator? I have no idea. Maybe she did use her name and power in her party to get some perks for her state. But no matter how much she traveled when she ran for the Senate she is still not a real New Yorker and doesn’t understand or love that state as would someone who actually lived there.Now Carolyn Kennedy has decided she wants to take Hillary’s seat when junior Senator Clinton becomes Madame Secretary of State. Yes, Carolyn’s uncle was once the Senator of NY but he was never a real New Yorker himself. It makes you wonder about New Yorkers (ok I have always wondered about anyone who chooses to live there). Anyway, I wonder why they keep voting for somebody who moved to their state last week and declared they want to be the next Senator from New York.
Yes Ms. Kennedy has a name with star power but she has even less experience than Hillary had when she ran for that seat. I heard that Carolyn said that because she recently turned 50 and had worked with her uncle Teddy on Obama’s election she has now decided that she has decided to go into politics herself. So she just moved to NY and declared that she wants to be the next Senator in NY. Wow. I can’t help but feel sorry for all the hard working NY politicians who thought that they have earned the right to be named and now their dreams have been shattered in one day.
In both NY and Illinois the Governor has complete freedom to fill their respective empty Senate seats. The Illinois Governor is facing all kinds of criminal charges for trying to sell his empty seat to the highest bidder. The NY Governor is now faced with having a living icon, Carolyn Kennedy, stating that she wants him to name her as the next NY Senator even though she has never lived there nor has any experience. (Ironically I can’t help but wonder what the Illinois Governor would have done if faced with this decision.)
It is bad enough for an outsider to move to NY just so they can be in the Senate. But in Hillary’s case she earned that seat as the people of New York decided they wanted this foreigner with name power to be their next Senator and voted her to be their Senator. But in this current situation Kennedy would be named by the Governor and not elected by the citizens of the state. That just doesn’t seem right even if she has a mega watt name. As somebody quipped, Brittany Spears has a famous name, too, but you wouldn’t want her in Congress.
When a Senate seat becomes open in the middle of the term, we need to come up with a better way of filling it instead of letting the Governor pick whomever he wants. Neither pay to play nor having your Daddy’s name should be the criteria for selection but I am not sure what the alternative is. In Illinois, the Republicans are clamoring for a special election but this will cost a great deal of money. Perhaps the seat should be given to the person the leaving Senator beat in their party’s primary. Or maybe the State Senate should vote on a replacement as they are supposed to represent their district’s best interest. I am not sure of the solution but anything has to be better than the current situations in Illinois and New York.
Supreme Court Turns Down Obama Birth Case
Hawaii Secretary of State Says Obama Born There.
The U. S. Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subject at birth. Leo Donofrio also contends that two other candidates, Republican John McCain and Socialist Workers candidate Roger Calero, also are not natural-born citizens and thus ineligible to be president.The cout didn’t explain its ruling.
At least one other appeal over Obama’s citizenship remains at the court. Philip J. Berg of Lafayette Hill, Pa., argues that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii as Obama says and the Hawaii secretary of state has confirmed.
Berg says Obama also may be a citizen of Indonesia, where he lived as a boy. Federal courts in Pennsylvania have dismissed Berg’s lawsuit. Federal courts in Ohio and Washington state have rejected similar lawsuits.
Allegations raised on the Internet say the birth certificate, showing that Obama was born in Hawaii on Aug. 4, 1961, is a fake. But state officials in Hawaii say they checked health department records and have determined there’s no doubt Obama was born in Hawaii.
The nonpartisan Web site Factcheck.org examined the original document and said it does have a raised seal and the usual evidence of a genuine document. It has also produced a 1961 birth announcement published in the Honolulu Advertiser.
The matter is further complicated by reports that Obma’s grandmother and half brother, both Kenyan, say he was in fact born in Kenya.
Chambliss Win Wrecks Democrat Dream Of One Party Government
Minnesota Recount Between Coleman and Franken Rendered Mostly Moot.
Incumbent Senator Saxby Chambliss (R) Georgia defeated his Democrat challenger by nearly a 3 to 2 margin in a Tuesday, December 2nd runoff and thereby blocking a filibuster proof Democrat Congress that by procedural law could pass whatever legislation it desires emasculating Republican opponents from stopping it. It requirses 60 votes to end debate on any bill and the Chambliss win elimintes that possibility. A Coleman win adds another vote to continue debate.
The Chambliss win renders the Minnesota U. S. Senate race moot. It is still in recount between incumbant Norm Coleman (R) and unfunny man Al Franken (D) wiith Coleman hanging on to the slimmest margin.
A filibuster, or “talking out a bill“, is a form of obstruction in a legislature or other decision-making body. An attempt is made to infinitely extend debate upon a proposal in order to delay the progress or completely prevent a vote on the proposal taking place.
The term ‘filibuster’ was first used in 1851. It was derived from the Spanish filibustero meaning ‘pirate’ or ‘freebooter’. This term had in turn evolved from the French word flibustier, which itself evolved from the Dutch vrijbuiter (freebooter). This term was applied at the time to American adventurers, mostly from Southern states, who sought to overthrow the governments of Central American states, and was transferred to the users of the filibuster, seen as a tactic for pirating or hijacking debate.
A filibuster forces continued debate and often compromises and concessions. Also on Tuesday Republican Senator Melquíades Rafael “Mel” Martínez (R) Florida announced he will not reun for reelection instantly setting off a campaign for a Democrat win there in 2010.
Chris Matthews Could Run Against Octogenarian Senator Specter
Matthews Angling Toward 2010 Senate Run - Specter May Not Run - But, Insisted 11-30 He Will Run.
MSNBC’s liberal pundit, and native Pennsylvanian Chris Matthews, age 62, may be considering another run for public office specifically the U.S. Senate in 2010.
The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pa. reports Matthews met with Democrat state party leaders this past Wednesday in Washington to discuss a possible bid to unseat Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania’s senior senator who will have served 5 terms and 30 years by 2010 when he will be 80-years old..
Party official Mary Isenhour says she left the meeting feeling that Matthews still hadn’t made up his mind. It is obviouse to me that Matthews ego could not stand another political defeat — he ran unsuccessfully for a Pennsylvania congressional seat in 1974.—so he will wait to judge the political climate in mid to late 2009.
Matthews hosts MSNBC’s Hardball and provides political commentary on NBC’s Today. Christopher Matthews (born December 17, 1945) in Philadelphia Roman Catholic family and remains a practicing Catholic. He graduates from Holy Cross and the Univerity of North Crolina and served in the Peace Corp in Switzerland (1968-1970) and was a Vietnam War opponent and protester. Although he supported Barry Goldwater, Eugene McCarthy’s anti-war stance attracted Mathews.
Because of his political views and vociferousness NBC banished he and Keith Olberman from participating in the president debates. Mathews has had health problems including malaria and diabetes.
There was no immediate comment from Matthews on Saturday. And MSNBC did not immediately return a call from the Patriot-News.
Media Kept Intelligence Success A Secret Before Election
The intelligence coup was not reported by U. S. main stream media lest it weaken Barrack Obama’s chances
A few weeks before dropping North Korea from the United States‘ list of countries that sponsor terrorism, the Bush administration thwarted a shipment of missile parts, possibly including gyroscopes for guidance systems, from North Korea to Iran Newsweek is reporting in this week’s magazine.
An aircraft operated by Pyongyang’s state-controlled airline was given permission by India to fly from Burma to Teheran, traversing Indian airspace. In August The Indian Express newspaper reported that the office of India’s prime minister “hurriedly” asked authorities to withdraw the clearance. The US officials said that clearance was annulled following a request from Washington.
The intelligence coup was not reported by U. S. main stream media lest it weaken Barrack Obama’s chances.
After blocking the missile components shipment the US removed North Korea from its state sponsor of terror status in October, after Pyongyang agreed to halt its nuclear program.
However, what seemed a brisk start almost immediately began to stutter as Japanese and South Korean officials publicly proclaimed that North Korea had stopped the process of decommissioning its reactor, and was not standing up to other sides of its agreement with the US.
That Bush “failure” was widely reported in the U. S. only a few days before the November presidential election.
Speculation centers around North Korea deciding it can play hardball and win concessions from an Obama administration it believes will be anxious to avoid anything that appears to be a foreign policy crisis.
What is Foreign Money Buying In Washington DC
Palestinian Brothers Gave Obama $31,000 from GAZA strip.
The Federal Election Commission was prepared to sweep aside formal demands for a full audit of irregularities in the Obama campaign until the idea of Hillary Clinton being Secretary of State surfaced. More specifically are monies flowing from foreigners and foreign governments to former President Bill Clinton and into the Obama’s pockets.
The rub with the FEC is concerns can also include receiving money from foreign donors. The FEC compiled a list last month of more than 16,000 contributions from overseas sources. A Newsmax survey of roughly one-fifth of those names found 118 individuals who appeared to be foreign citizens.
Non-U. S. citizens are forbidden from contributing and more specifically campaigns, if knowing, are prohibited from accepting such contributions lest foreigners and foreign governments buy influence.
4,000 contributors to the Obama campaign exceeded the $2,300 individual limits and could be prosecuted and if found guilty fined and even imprisoned.
So, will the commission act now? Incoming commissioners Don McGahn, a Republican, and Cynthia Bauerly, a Democrat, insisted that they would hear cases at the FEC in terms of their merits, not party affiliation.
One egregious example is contribution from two brothers in the Gaza Strip, Hosam and Monir Edwan. Together, they gave over $31,000 to the Obama campaign. The brothers listed their address as Gaza Strip, Rafah,” and used a foreign currency credit card to make their donations.
Obama’s campaign also received millions of dollars in cash cards where a person buys the card for cash, contributes without name or address being reported. In one cash an individual bought out a retailers supply with a stack of $100 bills.
Partisans are pointing out that this does not reflect the idea of “change” or “reform.”
At minimum say critics Obama’s campaign should be thoroughly vetted as former President Clinton financed investigated to remove any doubt of foreign influence or expose it if it exists.
Democrats Two Senate Seats Short Of Veto Proof
Chambliss and Coleman Seats on knife’s edge.
Republican incumbent Senator Saxby Chambliss holds a four-point lead over Democratic challenger Jim Martin in Georgia ’s closely-watched Senate runoff race, according to the first Rasmussen Reports survey in the state since Election Day. A runoff is required since no one security a majority of the vote on November 4th ,
Chambliss leads 50% to 46%, with the vote scheduled for December 2. Only four percent (4%) are undecided. At present Democrats have a 56 advantage; plus one avowed Socialist and an independent (Lieberman) who caucus with the Democrats – two short of a veto proof Senate and hence Congress.
The Minnesota race between uber-leftist, and sarcastic un-funny man Al Franken and bland Republican incumbent Norm Coleman is in a manual recount. They were separated by 209 votes of 2.9 million cast but Coleman’s lead as of 7:03 AM Thursday is 179 due to results from liberal, urban St. Louis County Franken has sued to count absentee ballots even if received late. Franken’s camp estimates that as many as 250 volunteer attorneys will descend on the state.
Coleman is a former Mayor of St, Paul; first term Senator elected in 2002, a previous member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), Coleman switched to the Republican Party of Minnesota in 1996. In 1998 he lost a bid for Governor of Minnesota against former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura , a member of the Reform Party of Minnesota , and Democratic Farmer Labor candidate Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey III .
Recounting costs about 3 cents per ballot or $87,000 but before every legal challenge is resolved could consume millions of dollars.
Ballot Proposition Roundup (Partial)
…at all levels voters considered nearly a thousand referenda and initiatives on the November ballot.
Same-sex marriage bans passed in California , Arizona and Florida got a lot of attention and bring to 30 the number of states with prohibitions in their constitutions to block same-sex unions. A Connecticut judge decreed same sex marriage OK there. Voters in Arkansas stopped adoptions of children by homosexuals.
Voters in Colorado and South Dakota rejected sweeping bans on abortion that could have tested Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that provided women seeking abortions with legal protections. A third abortion measure — requiring doctors to notify parents of minors before performing the procedure — failed in California .
Washington became only the second state after Oregon to allow doctor-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. Michigan lifted a 30-year ban on stem-cell research. Nebraska agreed to ban affirmative action. President-elect Obma is expected the end the ban on human fetal stem cell research by executive order as soon as he takes office January 20th .
Massachusetts rejected a plan to eliminate the state’s income tax, a proposal that could have cut the state’s budget by more than 40%. North Dakotans declined to cut the state’s personal income tax in half and reduce the corporate income tax by 15%, moves that would have slashed the state’s budget by about 17%. In Oregon , a proposal to allow residents to deduct federal taxes from their state income tax returns failed; the measure would have trimmed the state’s budget by about $1 billion. Coloradans refused to create a savings account for public schools that would have used money otherwise returned to residents as rebates under the state’s landmark Taxpayer Bill of Rights.
Voters in Massachusetts and Michigan relaxed penalties for the possession and use of marijuana. Massachusetts became the first state to decriminalize the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana via ballot initiative, while Michigan became the 13th state — and first in the Great Lakes or Midwest — to sign off on use of the drug for medical purposes.
Washington voters easily approved - by a 58.7%t to 41.3% margin - a "death with dignity" law modeled on Oregon ’s, which took effect in 1997. More than 340 patients have taken lethal prescriptions in the decade since Oregon ’s law was enacted. Some think doctor-assisted suicide is "something that could be coming down the pike in other states" after Washington ’s approval.
South Dakota voters rejected a proposal to repeal legislative term limits. Colorado rejected a plan to lower age limits for those serving in the General Assembly. Perhaps most significantly, Californians were considering giving redistricting authority to an independent commission instead of the state Legislature, a proposal that has failed five times before in the Golden State . With 99 percent of precincts reporting, the proposal was ahead by the narrowest of margins.
California became the latest state to approve a measure requiring more humane conditions for farm animals. But the proposal would not go into effect until 2015. Similar proposals won approval in Florida in 2002 and Arizona in 2006.
America Divided Into Literate And Illiterate
Ten Million Adults Can Not Read 50 Million More Read at 4th and 5th Grade Level.
There are over 42 million American adults, 20 percent of whom hold high school diplomas, who cannot read, as well as the 50 million who read at a fourth- or fifth-grade level. Nearly a third of the nation’s population is illiterate or barely literate if a November 12, 2008 analysis by Chris Hedges, Truthdig.com is correct .
Hedges’ premise is of an America split between a literate minority with the tools to cope and a majority that “exists in a non-reality-based belief system. …dependent on skillfully manipulated images for information, has severed itself from the literate, print-based culture. It cannot differentiate between lies and truth.”
“A third of high school graduates, along with 42 percent of college graduates, never read a book after they finish school. Eighty percent of the families in the United States last year did not buy a book, “ he says.
American political campaigns, which have learned to speak in the comforting epistemology of images, eschew real ideas and policy for cheap slogans and reassuring personal narratives. Political propaganda now masquerades as ideology.
The illiterate and semi-literate, once the campaigns are over, remain powerless. They still cannot protect their children from dysfunctional public schools. They still cannot understand predatory practices.
Political leaders in our post-literate society no longer need to be competent, sincere or honest. They only need to appear to have these qualities. Most of all they need a story, a narrative. The reality of the narrative is irrelevant. It can be completely at odds with the facts he thinks.
We are repeatedly fed words or phrases like yes we can, maverick, change, pro-life, hope or war on terror. Hedges sarcastically “It feels good not to think. All we have to do is visualize what we want, believe in ourselves and summon those hidden inner resources, whether divine or national, that make the world conform to our desires. Reality is never an impediment to our advancement.”
News, political debate, theater, art and books are judged not on the power of their ideas but on their ability to entertain. Cultural products that force us to examine ourselves and our society are condemned as elitist and impenetrable.
Predictably, given his background and personal proclivities Hedges says, “Huge segments of our population, especially those who live in the embrace of the Christian right and the consumer culture, are completely unmoored from reality. They lack the capacity to search for truth and cope rationally with our mounting social and economic ills.”
All the traditional tools of democracies, including dispassionate scientific and historical truth, facts, news and rational debate, are useless instruments in a world that lacks the capacity to use them.
In addition to the Christian right Hedges blames, among others, “our entertainment industry and our political demagogues — who will offer increasingly absurd forms of escapism.”
I find myself caught up in and grudgingly agreeing with Hedges’ sarcasm and pessimism. Yesterday I was asked to decide an argument about the meaning of a “Yes” or “No” vote on a recent ballot measure. One side laughably uninformed thanks to the most pathetically cursory reading of the proposition testifies to Hedges’ premise.
Christopher Lynn Hedges (born 18 September 1956 in St. Johnsbury, Vermont) is a journalist and author, specializing in American and Middle Eastern politics and society.
He is a Pulitzer prize-winning reporter, is a Senior Fellow at the Nation Institute. His latest book is Collateral Damage: America’s War Against Iraqi Civilians.
Hedges is currently a senior fellow at The Nation Institute in New York City and a Lecturer in the Council of the Humanities and the Anschutz Distinguished Fellow at Princeton University. He spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He has reported from more than fifty countries, and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News and The New York Times, where he was a reporter for fifteen years.
Who Can You Believe?
Most Say Mainstream Media Biased — Pollsters Join Bias Bunch
A majority of Americans believe media coverage attempted to influence the election for Barack Obama. On Monday the ombudsman for the Washington Post admitted the newspaper’s political coverage was heavily biased to elect Barack Obama.
Now comes a Fordham University Analysis by its Department of Political Science of the 20-major pollsters that appears to confirm he same bias by media to manipulate polling data to influence the election.
The Fordham University Analysis ranks the 20 leading polsters in order of performance.
1. Rasmussen (11/1-3)**
1. Pew (10/29-11/1)**
2. YouGov/Polimetrix (10/18-11/1)
3. Harris Interactive (10/20-27)
4. GWU (Lake/Tarrance) (11/2-3)*
5. Diageo/Hotline (10/31-11/2)*
5. ARG (10/25-27)*
6. CNN (10/30-11/1)
6. Ipsos/McClatchy (10/30-11/1)
7. DailyKos.com (D)/Research 2000 (11/1-3)
8. AP/Yahoo/KN (10/17-27)
9. Democracy Corps (D) (10/30-11/2)
10. FOX (11/1-2)
11. Economist/YouGov (10/25-27)
12. IBD/TIPP (11/1-3)
13. NBC/WSJ (11/1-2)
14. ABC/Post (10/30-11/2)
15. Marist College (11/3)
16. CBS (10/31-11/2)
17. Gallup (10/31-11/2)
18. Reuters/ C-SPAN/ Zogby (10/31-11/3)
19. CBS/Times (10/25-29)
20. Newsweek (10/22-23)
Most notable among them is the miserable performance of the major US television networks that had “error” rates between 57% and 83%. ABC, CBS and NBC consistently announced Obama with a double digit lead.
Once again Rasmussen hit the nail on the head as it did in 2004. Pew Research tied it for accuracy this year. Newsweek was worst.
NO ON 8Iwas AND OBAMA …… NOT A GOOD MARRIAGE
Okay, I’ll admit it, I did read the LA Times this week. For those who find that particularly abhorrent, I suppose you can delete this message (and perhaps permanently place me in your spam file). But for those who will forgive me, a recent op/ed caught my attention and to save you the indignation and need to go to the pharmacy to procure anti-allergy pills, I thought I’d cut and paste just one paragraph for you.
Many people wrongfully assumed that those voters who were for Obama would also be for Prop 8. This assumption was based on the wrongheaded belief that Obama voters would never support any proposition which could be framed as being against civil rights. This belief was not only wrongheaded but also in my mind, it continues the usual misunderestimation (one of the few good Bush malapropisms) of the Black community.
Ms. Cannick’s op/ed surmises the following: the high turnout of new Black voters for Obama coupled with the audacity to hope that the Black community would march like lemmings lockstep with the NO on Prop 8 bandwagon, may have just led to the passage of Prop 8.
In her article, Jasmyne Cannick, a self-avowed Black lesbian writer, says the following:
But the black civil rights movement was essentially born out of and driven by the black church; social justice and religion are inextricably intertwined in the black community. To many blacks, civil rights are grounded in Christianity — not something separate and apart from religion but synonymous with it. To the extent that the issue of gay marriage seemed to be pitted against the church, it was going to be a losing battle in my community.
I agree wholeheartedly with this. The likely highly paid consultants for the No on 8 Committee failed to see this and their misreading of the situation at hand, coupled with the insanely high Black voter registration and turnout numbers likely had as much to do with the Passage of this Proposition as anything else.
Unintended Consequences
President elect Barack Obama. The country really did it but now we all wonder what will an Obama presidency mean? One thing everyone agrees on is that Obama and his fellow Democrats will be raising our taxes; the only question is what income level will it be based on. I don’t think it really matters as it will be the difference between high and higher taxes. For in addition to federal income taxes, there is also talk of increasing payroll taxes, capital gains taxes, taxes on small businesses and the list goes on and on. That’s just federal taxes; states are also proposing new tax increases. For example, in New York, Bloomberg has already announced higher taxes in the form of tolls on all bridges and has even proposed a tax on plastic bags at the grocery store.
There is, however, good news for some people. No, I don’t mean the low income or no income groups whose outstretched hands will finally be filled. I have a completely different group in mind. For if you find your taxes going higher and higher there is one thing most people could do that will immediately lower your tax burden. What is this talisman to protect you from more taxes? Move to a state without income taxes!
Seven states currently do not have state income taxes: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. I truly doubt if too many people would be interested in moving to Alaska, South Dakota or Wyoming, especially as I just heard that in this, the first week of November, South Dakota had over 30 inches of snow! That leaves Florida, Nevada, Texas and Washington as possible relocation sites for overtaxed folks from the other 43 states.
If you are an employer who wants to either get out from the burden of your taxes or open a new plant or office you will also consider one other important aspect - right to work. Florida, Nevada and Texas are all right to work states meaning that employees can’t be forced to join a union but instead can decide for themselves if they want to join one. With the potential passage of the new union open voting law, the option to join or not may become an increasingly important one to both business owners and employees.
Once the higher taxes start to impact people, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a small boomlet in Florida, Nevada and Texas as people move here to escape their high state taxes. All three states also have large retiree populations and with a lot of people retiring in the near future there is no reason to think that they wouldn’t continue to retire there. This could help the lagging new housing construction and the sales of existing houses in these states. The economy may not be ripe for new businesses, yet I would think that if it were to occur it would happen in greater proportions in Florida, Nevada and Texas. I could also envision that more companies will relocate to these states, too. They offer ideal situations; no state taxes, right to work, lower housing prices than in many areas and not to forget Florida and Nevada’s warm climates.
If you currently live in Florida, Nevada or Texas you are already benefiting from having lower taxes. But if there is a small migration of people and companies to your states then this could mean a faster recovery of the housing market along with increased state revenue from the larger populations. Plus more people mean more business for your local stores. The job market might also increase if companies do start to relocate to your state, too.
I think that it would be extremely ironic if Florida and Texas were to benefit from the increased taxes as proposed by the liberals. Ever since the Bush elections liberals have despised Floridians with an intensity I have never seen before. To a lesser extent they also dislike Texas which is the heart of Bush country and southern Republicans. (Nevada, unfortunately, is Harry Reid’s state and as such is beloved by Democrats.)
So maybe Texans and Floridians should feel a bit smug when they hear how Obama and the liberals plan to raise taxes for they know that they could actually benefit from it! Now all they need to do is make sure the folks who move into their states to avoid higher taxes eventually become good southern republicans who will vote against Obama in 2012!
U. S. 56th Consecutive Quadrennial Election
More Of The Same With A Couple Important New Wrinkles
November 4, 2008, was the 56th consecutive quadrennial United States presidential election to select the President and the Vice President of the United States. It was the first time since 1952 that neither an incumbent president nor vice president was on the ballot.
122.7 million voted almost exactly the same as 2004 despite wild predictions about turnout. The much touted “youth vote” (18-30) simply didn’t show up reaching about 11% as it did in 2004 with 64% going to Obama. Blacks did increase their vote from 11% to 13% with 93% going to Obama. White men went to McCain while women of all ethnicities went to Obama.
Obama spent $638 million and McCain $360 million and when other candidates are added more than $1 billion was spent, and that was a record.
Electing Another Baby Boomer
No surprise that journalists are continuing to get something wrong but it is really bugging me. After the election I keep hearing and reading how we have elected our first post Vietnam president; a man who isn’t a baby boomer. They have the first part right but the second part is wrong. Barack Obama is a baby boomer.
Baby boomers were the children of the Greatest Generation who were settling down, marrying and having children after World War II. To be specific, demographers have always defined boomers as those born from 1946 to 1964. Yes, this is a large group of births but most people don’t realize that the peak of births didn’t occur until 1957. In total, nearly 76 million babies were born during the baby boom and half were born from 1956 to 1964.
Although Barack is an exception, many of these second wave of baby boomers were the younger brothers and sisters of the older baby boomers. Although they are all boomers, the journalists were right in that these two groups had very different life experiences. The older boomers were teens or young adults during most of the Vietnam War and were at the forefront of all the movements of the 1960’s; civil rights, women rights, gay rights. While the younger boomers were, well, young.
I should know as I, too, was a baby boomer born during the second half of this demographic group. This topic, especially the major differences of the two groups has always fascinated me. For example, don’t ask my fellow younger boomers where they were when Kennedy was shot because they’ll be quick to tell you that they were still in diapers or just learning to walk at the time. But do ask us where we were in 1981 when Reagan was shot or when the Challenger exploded, two events which greatly impacted us for we were teens or young adults at the time. As for the pivotal year of 1968, when so much seemed to happen in our country, the youngest boomers ranged in age from 4 to 11 years old. Personally my only memory of the assassination of Martin Luther King was being angry that my cartoons on TV had been canceled for the news coverage.
So Barack Obama is as much of a baby boomer as Bill Clinton or George Bush. I am sure this will frustrate anyone born after 1964 because the rest of the country is definitely tired of baby boomers. Yet as part of the second wave of boomers he does have a much different life experience than the older boomers. He, himself, has already alluded to this when he was defending his association with Bill Ayers by saying he was only 8 when Ayers was bombing buildings. He truly is a post Vietnam child who grew up in a world that was different from the past boomer presidents. Yet, let there be no mistake on this, Barack Obama is still a baby boomer.
Secret Stunner Immediately Follows Obama Election
Ralph Nader got less than 1 percent of the vote — actually losing to low fat milk.
By a 52% to 46% popular vote margin yielding a 349 to 161 Electoral College bulge Barrack Obama resoundingly defeated John McCain. Massachusetts legalized marijuana use. San Francisco rejected legal prostitution. But, T. Boone Pickens managed to get screwed poured tens of millions into a California proposition to advance his clean fuel ballot proposition but lost both his money and at the ballot box. It appears Californians has voted for the second time to ban homosexual marriage. Democrats now control 253 seats in the House of Representatives to 182 for the GOP. Democrats failed to get a filibuster proof senate controlling 54 Senate seats to 42 for the GOP ensuring it an obstructionist role.
In what can be seen as the first problem to face the new U. S. President IsraelNN.com released a breathtaking story first printed in the Lebanese newspaper al-Ahbar, saying Barrack Obama has secretly told Abbas that he supports a Palestinian state, and Arab “rights to east Jerusalem” as well. The sources said Abbas and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad “heard the best things they ever heard from an American president.” Sources quoted in the report, said the U. S. President elect Obama asked them to keep his declaration a secret. The story included the quote “…The PA hopes that the next American president will fulfill his commitment towards the Palestinians and pressure Israel.”
On Wednesday Voice of Israel government radio reported Arabs living in the Gaza were reportedly celebrating in the streets with impromptu demonstrations, waving flags of the terrorist organization Hamas.
God Bless America
I am so very proud of my country. I may not agree with the country’s decision but that doesn’t take away my love and pride of my fellow citizens. The election of Barack Obama is not something I wanted yet it is something I can understand. Listening to his victory speech I was once again struck by his blend of preaching and orating that lifted his speeches into inspiring sermons of hope and change. You had to have a heart of stone to not be affected by these speeches. I was also moved by the look on the faces of those listening to him. From long-term politicians to Hollywood to average people, all had a look of pure adoration while tears of joy creased their cheeks. I truly am happy for them, especially the new voters; the young college kids who got involved for the first time and the African Americans who will now understand that their vote matters, that they matter.
This country made history last night in electing its first African American president. We also did something that continues to awe the rest of the world; a peaceful transition of power between two opposing groups. I think many people were worried about the election process itself. On top of the concerns that ACORN generated, it seemed as if every news channel was requesting that you call them if you see voter fraud. But there were no major or even minor problems which is pretty incredible. We had more people voting and though the polling places were definitely overtaxed it still worked. And again, kudos to the people themselves who stood in lines for 3 or 4 or even 5 hours so that they could vote.
Today is not the time to discuss why I disagree with Obama on almost all of his political ideas or even to analyze what his presidency might bring. There will be four long years for that. No, today is for the victors. To celebrate this great victory, not only over John McCain, who did a valiant job, but a victory over one of the last vestiges of our national nightmare, slavery and the continued ill treatment of a large segment of our society. America will never be perfect, no one or country is, yet we have showed the world, and more importantly ourselves, that after last night we are one step closer to completely fulfilling our country’s promise as set forth in the Declaration of Independence:
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.
God Bless America
Judge Rules On Disenfranchised Military Could Change Virginia Vote
McCain Sues To Extend Deadline Because Ballots Were Mailed Late. Federal Judge Orders Ballots Preserved Until He Can Rule at Mid Month.
A 1986 federal law requires ballots to be mailed to military voters in foreign countries at least 45 days before the election, which this year would have been Sept. 20. But, tens of thousands of active duty military ballots were not mailed in time to be received and returned by 7PM deadline tonight to be counted. John McCain has filed a federal lawsuit demanding a new deadline of November 14th be set to ensure active duty military some serving in remote areas are not disenfranchised. Those votes could change the result in Virginia and its 13 electoral votes and change the outcome of the presidential election.
Around 3PM PST a Federal Judge ordered over seas ballots “preserved” until he can rule in mid-November, If it is close his ruling will become critical.
Most states require permanent absentee ballots to be mailed 30-days in advance of election.
A federal judge rejected an NAACP lawsuit, alleging Virginia allotted too few voting machines for the enormous number of voters in majority black precincts expected to be drawn by the prospect of electing Obama as the first black president demanding extended deadlines. The same judge will hear McCain’s lawsuit at 1:30 p.m. EST today
The Shadow Man
I’ve been listening to a lot of pundits this weekend so I am sorry that I can’t remember who said this but somebody stated that the election is now between Obama and himself. Either you are voting for Obama or you are voting against him. And that made a lot of sense to me because Senator McCain has never really stood out. It felt as if he were a shadow to Obama’s incandescent personality. McCain was never able to define himself with a single message which stuck unlike Obama’s continuous message of hope and change. Even worse, McCain let Obama define who he was.
Actually, I believe that McCain’s campaign has been overshadowed by three people. From the start Obama associated McCain with President Bush. At first the comparison was used to paint him as someone who will keep us in the Iraq war and perhaps get us into new wars. (By the way, did anybody see the big coverage on the news stating that October had the lowest