WOW! Talk about lobbyist influence. This is reprehensible. CALL THE SENATOR AND TELL HIM HOW YOU FEEL.
Washington, D.C.
Phone: 202-224-3934
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808-541-2542
Hilo, Hawaii
Phone: 808-935-0844
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Economy Recovers...Slowly
From the AP:
New jobless claims dropped to the lowest level since January and the prices of many household goods stayed low last month, positive signs of stability for the fledgling economic recovery.
The decline in jobless claims shows companies are cutting fewer workers, though the drop isn't yet steep enough to signal new hiring, economists said. And the low level of inflation is holding down prices as Americans slowly regain their appetite to shop despite rising unemployment and tight credit conditions.
Thursday's reports "all point to an economy that is starting to grow again," said Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at the Economic Outlook Group.
Low inflation is consistent with the early stages of an economic recovery, Baumohl said. Even as business activity picks up, unemployment is still high and factories have enough spare capacity to increase output without sending prices higher.
The Labor Department said first-time claims for jobless benefits dropped to a seasonally-adjusted 514,000 from an upwardly revised 524,000 the previous week. The fifth decline in six weeks defied economists' forecasts of a slight gain.
The four-week average, which smooths fluctuations, fell for the sixth straight time to 531,500. That's the lowest since January and about 125,000 below the April peak.
Economists closely watch initial claims, which are considered a measure of layoffs and the willingness of companies to add jobs.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Keep Limbaugh OUT of Football
Over the past few weeks, the subject of sports in America has come up frequently. Most of the time the main issue is violence and fan behavior, and whether the traditional "outing with the kids" is even an option anymore.
But I digress.
What I want to know is this: who wants this guy anywhere near the Rams?
Obviously I'm not a fan of Mr. Personality, but I do know this: it's hard enough to get away from politics these days. Heck, even the Nobel Prize is tinged with it. The one place I can turn to is good ol' football, where the political affiliations of the players don't interest me as much as the quality of the hurt that our defense puts on the competition.
So with that sentiment in mind I say this: Keep him OUT of football.
GOP 2.0 Unveils a Dud AKA Comedian of the Day: Michael Steele!
From the Christian Science Monitor:
There’s a metaphor lurking in here somewhere. The same day GOP Chairman Michael Steele unveiled a new online home for the Republican Party, the website apparently crashed, leaving users unable to log on to GOP.com.
The site was meant to rival the digital operation run by the Democrats and President Barack Obama, who used social networking to great effect in the 2008 elections. GOP.com has a YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr presence, and an array of blogs, including the “What Up” blog, which will be penned by Steele himself.
“[The new site] takes advantage of various online tools to connect Republicans and concerned Americans across the country to each other and party leaders, creating a larger, more informed, more organized, and more energized Republican community,” Steele told the Associated Press today.
But early this afternoon, bloggers had found a mass of bugs and glitches, including repeated php problems. By 3:30 p.m. EDT, GOP.com slowed to a crawl, eventually shutting out users. The official cause? A network error.
No word yet from the GOP tech staff. In the meantime, we’ll have to make due with digs from the Democrats, who are basking in the glee of their technically inept rivals.
“You know your web program is in trouble when your site can’t even handle the traffic bump from people making fun of your web program,” Joe Rospars of Blue State Digital told Talking Points Memo today.
Gotta love Steele and the twits that are holding his proverbial leash. "What Up?" Are you kidding me? What type of voter is he trying to reel in there? And for the love of all things PC, can someone please tell the guy that he's not mackin' to the g'sters on the block, yo. How about some "shut up and put up?" This would be hysterical; but I can't believe that this party has a 50/50 shot at winning something every year.
Obama's Nobel "Prize"
I DO NOT THINK THAT THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE SHOULD HAVE BEEN AWARDED IN SUCH A PREMATURE AND OBVIOUSLY SLANTED WAY. TOO MANY PEOPLE WERE PASSED OVER, PEOPLE THAT STRUGGLE IN OFTEN FORGOTTEN PARTS OF THE GLOBE. That said, this is an interesting piece in the LA Times:
The venerable polling organization Gallup is reporting this morning that President Obama appears to have gotten a slight bounce in public approval after he won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.
Despite near-universal disdain from the punditocracy ("a wicked and ignorant award," said the Wall Street Journal), the public seems to like having a president who's popular abroad, at least with the liberal ruling classes in Norway. As Gallup noted, the uptick is a departure from recent months, Obama's best showing since a 58% reading in August,
But we wonder about Gallup's conclusion. By its own account, Gallup finds the bounce more pronounced among independents and Republicans.
Maybe the bounce has nothing to do with Oslo. Maybe independents and Republicans feel sorry for the president for going all the way to Copenhagen and failing to get the 2016 Olympics for Chicago.Or maybe, as former President George W. Bush is proving, laying low can soften the public view.
Obama has not made a healthcare speech in weeks, and his numbers rise. As for Bush, who left office with a 28% approval rating, he's been pretty quiet on the ranch and the latest ABC/Washington Post poll found him at 33%.
Snowe Helps Pass Baucus Bill
From Bloomberg.com:
The Senate Finance Committee approved an $829 billion plan to overhaul U.S. health care, clearing the way for a full Senate debate over the broadest expansion of the government’s role in the medical system since the creation of Medicare in 1965.
Just one Republican on the panel, Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, voted for the measure in an otherwise party-line 14-9 tally. That marked the first time a Republican in either the Democratic-controlled Senate or House has supported the revamp legislation, President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.
“Ours is a balanced plan that can pass the Senate,” said panel Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat.
Baucus had spent months courting Snowe and other Republicans, making his committee the last of five congressional panels to complete its version of the legislation. Senate and House Democratic leaders must now merge the bills and schedule floor debates. After each chamber votes, they’ll have to reconcile their measures.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will meld the finance panel bill with one approved by the Senate health committee in July, forcing him to resolve differences over a host of issues that divide both political parties and risk rupturing Democratic unity.
“There are many miles to go in this legislative journey,” Snowe said. “My vote today is my vote today. It doesn’t forecast what my vote will be tomorrow."
Thursday, October 1, 2009
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