Promises

Michael Moore makes some promises on behalf of liberals to conservatives:

1. We will never call you unpatriotic.
2. You can marry whomever you want.
3. We won't spend your grandchildrens money
4. We will bring your children home from Iraq along with ours
5. You will be included in any Universal Healthcare plan, regardless of whether you can pay
6. If a terrorist kills 3,000 people in the USA you can be sure that all resources will be used to track him down
7. We won't spy on you in your bedroom
8. We won't take away your hunting guns, even if you do need automatic weapons to hunt deer
9. We will raise the minimum wage of your employees as well as ours
10. When we clean up the air, you can breathe it too
11. We will respect your religious beliefs even when you don't practice them
12. We will not tolerate corrupt politicians

Rep. John Sweeney and NYS Police

Yes, he still represents us until January. And, yes he was able to get the NYS police to do his bidding concerning his wife abusing incident:

The full report on the domestic incident was concealed because of concern it could be used against Sweeney during his re-election campaign this fall, the source said.

Wife abuser Sweeney has gotten his revenge however.

There are no allegations that Capt. Frank Pace, 53, who has supervised the region's State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation for several years, was behind the leaked document.

Yet the 28-year veteran of the force this week received a letter from First Deputy Superintendent Preston Felton relieving him of his prestigious investigative post and reassigning him from the Loudonville Troop G headquarters.

Pace was also involved in investigating Rep. Sweeney's son in a beating charge.

This is not the first time Pace has clashed with Sweeney. After the August 2004 arrest of Sweeney's son, John J. Sweeney, then 18, on felony assault charges, Sweeney and his attorney accused State Police investigators, including Pace, of an undisclosed political vendetta.

Money Well Spent?

Cost of the Iraq War - about $11 million dollars per hour!

Number of 5 year NIH medical research grants that could be funded with that amount of spending per day?

Well over 120 grants (including overhead costs).

UPDATE: Congress has already approved $70 billion dollars for the war in 2007. Looks like with the 'last big push' they will need another $127 -160 billion dollars.

Was the Past Better than Now?

A letter in todays Adirondack Daily Enterprise:

I grew up in the ’50s, and as I see what is happening to this country and even in this area, I wish I could just simply snap my fingers and return to a time that was much simpler, when people were happier and common sense was so much more prevalent than it is now.

I remember when our children could walk about without fear of predators, but then we didn’t have the ACLU sticking up for the rights of the monsters who would destroy the lives of the most innocent of our society.

I remember a time when one’s marriage partner was of the opposite sex, and our children didn’t have to see men in panties on floats in a parade, or two women making out with each other.

There was a time when NO ONE would dare to suggest that we rip a child apart in the womb of its mother, to say nothing of actually CREATING a child to kill so we can scavenge its cells.

I remember a time when you didn’t have to be “POLITICALLY CORRECT,” as just having some morals covered that area well.

I remember when lawyers were there for the existing laws and not there to try to rewrite them to get criminals off and stuff their pockets.

I remember when doctors actually cared for their patients and you never heard of one leaving a tool in somebody or removing the wrong part, and they wouldn’t let one die for a lack of money.

But most of all, I remember a time when God wasn’t a dirty word or a cross didn’t offend someone’s petty little feelings and they weren’t trying to remove all inferences to God or religion under the dishonest guise of free speech.

Anyone who grew up in that time area knows just by remembering that it was a much better time for the people of America and their children. Oh well, I guess that’s progress, OR IS IT!!!!

Yes children could walk the streets. Whether they were ever molested we won't ever know because people didn't talk about things like that back then.

Yep, you were married to someone of the opposite sex back in the good old days. And beating her wasn't against the law. Neither was raping her. Women knew their place back in the good ole days.

I pine for the good old days of institutionalized racism and segregated schools. Back when you couldn't go swimming because of the polio epidemic and there was no protective vaccine. No vaccines agains mumps, measles, flu, etc either.

It was actually fun attending those government 'civil defense' presentations at school. I mean who didn't want a really neat underground bomb shelter.

Doctors didn't do abortions back then. No, we left it those back alley types to do that for us, unless of course you were rich and connected. Back in the good ole days Doctors didn't let you die for lack of money....rather they let you die for lack of modern advances in medicine and drug treatments.

Yes oh yes, looking back at the good ole days through colored glasses is so much fun. Informative too.

GovTrack

I'm keeping a close eye on my reps in Congress. To do this use GovTrack.us. It's free and you can sign up to monitor specific senators, representative and bills. You even get email notification. I'm giving it a try.

Alcee Hastings to Head House Intelligence Comm.?

Alcee Hastings??? This guy was a United States District court judge for the Southern District of Florida....before he was impeached by the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives for bribery and perjury. On top of that...his middle name is Lamar! Has anyone ever heard of a good guy named Lamar?

I'm starting to get disillusioned very quickly.

Big Spender Hillary

This is really sad. Hillary Clinton spent $36 million dollars to get re-elected Senator of NY state. Does anyone even know who ran against her? Why did she have to spend $36 million dollars? I didn't see any TV ads and I don't remember even getting any mailings from her campaign. Just what was the money spent on?

Hillary still has loads of money in the bank for her presidential run. She could get the Democrat nomination but she doesn't stand a chance in hell of getting elected president because:

She is a woman
She is representing liberal New York
She is wishy washy on her political stances
Much of the country has an irrational hatred of her

BTW Rudy Giuliani and George Pataki have even a less chance than Hillary of getting elected president. They aren't near conservative enough.

Murtha Wrong for Majority Leader

Just to show I can be critical of Democrats albeit a conservative Democrat...I don't think Rep. Murtha is the right man for majority leader. He was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Abscam scandel of the 80's and now he is implicated in "pay-to-play" politics that benefited his brother.

Cat Herding

It can be done!

Looks Like Rumsfield Has Some Legal Problems

Germany is seeking to prosecute Rummy, Tenet and Gonzales for their alleged roles in abuses committed at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo prisons. It seems they may have broken some of the Geneva Convention rules.

USA #1? How About Health Care and Education?

USA in health care

WHO overall health care ranking - 37th
WHO health care fairness - 54th
Only developed country that does not provide health care to it's citizens
18,000 - number of persons in USA that die every year because they do not have health insurance
Childhood mortality - 41st
USA childhood poverty - 22nd, at least we beat Mexico who is 23rd

Amount of money spent on health care #1

USA in business

Americans work longer hours per year than any other industrialized country, and get less vacation time
14 of 20 largest banks in the USA are European-owned banks
Japan, China, Taiwan, and South Korea hold 40% of our government debt
USA imports more food than it exports

We probably are number 1 in religion, scientific illiteracy, debt and in weapons export.