Reason Morning Links: GOP "Pledge to America," Facebook Friends Newark Public Schools, Unintended Consequences in the Health Care Bill

• As TARP ends, TARP fraud investigations begin.
• Georgia delays execution after condemned man attempts . . . suicide.
• Health insurers say they'll drop child-only policies due to provision in health care bill requiring coverage for children with preexisting conditions.
• Cool Google transparency tool tracks government requests for information, government attempts to block information.
• House Republicans unveil "The Pledge to America" today.
• Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg pledges up to $100 million to the Newark public school system.

Comments

[Xenocles]

Why would a child-only policy matter in a world where the child's guardians are required to buy a policy for the family in the first place?

[Mr. FIFY]

Don't forget to include "children" over the age of eighteen!

[TrickyVic]

We are all children in the eyes of daddy government.

[Slut Bunwalla]

It doesn't matter, but it's a convenient device to make the insurance companies look completely evil for not covering children.

[Johnny Longtorso]

Time Series Chart of US Government Spending
Constant 2005 USD per capita is an interesting chart.

[Corduroy]

One of my favorite sites.

[CavMedic]

Thanks for the link. Just playing around it looks like Federal spending will top out at around 25% of GDP (and then decline a little), but total government spending is headed for north of 40% for the forseeable future.

Lots of work to do.

[Mike M.]

The country as we now know it simply isn't going to survive too many more years of debt amounting to 12% of GDP being piled up every year, believe me. The whole thing is going to collapse within the next 5-10 years, tops.

[Johnny Longtorso]

A New Record for Mass Murder?
The "Hitler was worse because Stalin didn't want to kill and wouldn't have if he could have brought Progressivism to Russia w/o doing so" comments alone are worth the link.

[Deputy Eric Amerigo]

Hitler didn't want to kill anyone, the Jews forced his hand. It was more of a wrong-place, wrong-time scenario than anything.

[Johnny Longtorso]

Dahlia Lithwick: It's "Weird" for a Senator to Consider the Constitutionality of Legislation

[Attorney]

What an idiot! Where do they find these people? Unbelievable, inexcusable ignorance & laziness.

[John]

I posted this as a threadjack last night. Lithwick went to Stanford Law. And then worked at daddy's law firm before she became a journalist. I guess we know now why only daddy would hire her and he later suggested that maybe journalism was a good career move.

Maybe they teach Con Law differently at Stanford, but I remember day one of the class was Marbury and a whole discussion on how all three branches have both the obligation and the authority to interpret the Constitution. Does Lithwick really think that the executive and Congress should just ignore the Constitution and do whatever they want on the theory that if it is unconstitutional the Courts will over turn it? What the hell does she think places like the Office Legal Counsel to the President does?

What is even more infuriating is that Lithwick thinks she is so damned smart. I could forgive her but being silly and ignorant. But her smugness is so just unbearable.

[capitol l]

Also, don't most office holders take an oath to uphold the constitution when they take office?

Maybe I'm wrong here.

[John]

Yes. But apparently Lithwick thinks that means you do whatever you want until the Courts tell you to stop.

[Pro Libertate]

I always thought that Bush had committed an impeachable offense when he called a bill (McCain-Feingold, I think) unconstitutional, then signed it anyway.

[John]

That actually was Bush's one impeachable offense. But I don't think his enemies would have liked the precedent impeaching him for it would have set.

[Pro Libertate]

Yes. While I was typing that, I was thinking that he was just foolish enough to say that he thought it was unconstitutional.

[TrickyVic]

What did he have to worry about? Republicans owned both houses of congress when it was passed.

[tafurs delight]

That actually was Bush's one impeachable offense

LoL...oh, you were serious...

[robc]

eh...dont see that saying it makes a difference. I figure anytime the Supremes throw a law out, the President who signed it committed an impeachable offense. And the congressmen who voted for it should be, at minimum, censured and stripped of committee seats and seniority.

[John]

No way. That assumes that the Supreme Court has some God like power over the Constitution. The others branches have a say two. And just because the Supreme Court says no doesn't mean the other views are not reasonable.

[Gray Ghost]

Particularly when many Supreme Court cases' prior history consist of higher courts overturning lower courts and getting overturned themselves.

I vaguely remember one Supreme Court case where the District Court ruled one way, the Circuit Court of Appeal overturned 2-1, en banc the Circuit Court overturned itself, and the Supreme Court ended up overturning the full panel of the Circuit Court by something like 6-3. In a case like that, who can really say what the law is or should be?

McCain-Feingold was a bit clearer, of course.

[robc]

Remember, the congress can impeach the supremes, so checks and balances and shit.

Im just saying that everytime a bill is overthrown, if I had voted against the bill, I would bring up charges with the ethics committee that the majority violated their oath of office.

[Pro Libertate]

People can have differing interpretations of what's constitutional or not. But when you announce to the world that you're committing an unconstitutional act, gray area fades to black.

[robc]

Impeachment is merely the indictment portion, not the conviction. Supremes overturning a law at least meets the "ham sandwich" requirement for an indictment.

[Attorney]

Lithwick went to Stanford Law.

Holy crap. Then she's even more deserving of a smack upside the head.

(If she's gone to Yale, I'd be a little more understanding, but I thought Stanford was still a real law school.)

[John]

It drives me crazy that she is considered to be worthy of having a national platform to talk about the Supreme Court when all she has ever done is go to law school and work a couple of years at her daddy's law firm in Nevada.

There have to be hundreds of burned out or retired lawyers who have had real careers practicing before the Court who would happily go write the Supreme Court beat for Slate and actually bring something to the table. I can't figure out why anyone hired her. So what she went to Standford. So have thousands of other people.

[Attorney]

Believing oneself to be unusually smart is a real handicap.

[Mike M.]

There is no way that Litchwick truly believes this rubbish. She's playing the role of the professional concern troll, which seems to describe more and more people in the media nowadays.

[wylie]

Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg pledges up to $100 million to the Newark public school system.

Gotta support the system that produces your customers.

[Madbiker]

My students used n*ggaspace for their social networking. Facebook was considered too "white" for them. That may be changing now, though.

[jester]

just say it: niggaspace. nuthin' wrong with sayin' it. lotta wrong with avoiding it. It is what it is.

[Madbiker]

I don't know why I do that. I think the sensitivity training is starting to settle in. NIGGASPACE! I said it. I feel better now. Thanks, jester.

[-]

Also acceptable is nwordspace.

[Madbiker]

N-personspace?

Larry King should have retired 20 years ago.

[Tim]

You'll never run for Senate after this.

[affenkopf]

You're a public school teacher? Please kill yourself.

[SugarFree]

Don't be a cunt.

[What the]

Impoliteness will not be tolerated?

[SugarFree]

Madbiker was fired from her job for not playing ball with the teacher's union. So don't be a cunt to her, asswipe.

[Tim]

You'll never be a Senator either.

[SugarFree]

It's OK, my mother told me that I was such a smartass I'd never live to see 30. 10 extra, Ma! Ha!

[What the]

What, she couldn't turn a double play?

[billy-jay]

If Z-berg wanted that money to do any good, he'd set up scholarships to get kids out of pub(l)ic schools. He would do more good if he just set fire to it.

[puff-pass]

+1

[jester]

'but only about half of its students graduate'

the rest of them become actors so who cares.

[Madbiker]

It begs the question of how much education is really necessary for some people. K-6 or K-8 might be enough for most people who only need enough reading, writing, and figuring to get by in basic jobs. Of course, as these people age and see opportunity pass them by, they will wonder whose fault it was that they weren't pushed to learn more. They will detest their better-educated peers and envy any relative success others have compared to them, and it will all get blamed on the system not having done enough to prepare them for the realities of life.

Which is really what we have now. I've taught more than a few high school aged kids who cannot read, write, or do math beyond a 6th or 7th grade level, but they feel accomplished because they passed up into higher grades. They saw no point in doing any additional learning; school was merely a place they went for a few hours every day to pass the time and see friends in between the boredom of classes. And I saw this in the slums and the 'burbs - no differences in general, except that in the suburbs kids were more compliant and less likely to fight back, verbally or physically.

[Madbiker]

Newark spends $22,000 per student, and still can't get more than half of them to graduate. So of course the answer is to throw more money at the problem.

Zuckerberg can do what he wants with his money, but I'm afraid it is a useless venture. Billy-jay is right; private school scholarships would probably be best, or use the funds to start up an independent school in Newark.

They have a large number of Catholic schools there that do justice to the students, as well as North Star Academy, TEAM Academy, and a handful of independent charter schools, but they are not enough to service every student who might want and education but is not able to get it due to the vicious social environment present in the PSS. And I've interviewed for jobs there. It's frightening to walk into a schoolyard surrounded by 15 foot tall fences topped with barbed wire, with bars on the windows and guards at the door, all present just to provide the kids inside with some measure of safety.

Somebody pretty famous once said "the poor will always be with you." We seem to keep applying the same solutions to this problem that goes back to and beyond the time of Christ. What makes anyone think it will get better this time?

It seems pessimistic; I think of it as realistic. I also think that the view of education has to change not only in the eyes of Newark's citizens, but in the eyes of administrators and teachers as well. Getting kids to college seems to be the primary goal - when perhaps, in cities like Newark, teaching kids a viable skill for making money out of HS would be a better path to tread. Of course, this view needs to be applied to all of K-12 ed IMO.

[jester]

And even Seton Hall sucks basketball now. Yikes!

[Abdul]

I worked in poor urban schools for years. The only time I saw anyone do anything that lifted one of the poor bastards out of poverty was when I sent in my application for law school and got myself out.

[Madbiker]

Good for you.

Generally, the students I had who fared well were the ones who had parents who invested time in their children's educations. Surprise, surprise. It did not matter if it was a single-parent family, grandparent or other guardian raising the child, non-English speaker, or 2-3 job holder -- if the parent checked in and reinforced the importance of education to her child, that kid did well. Period. Not all went off to the greatest schools, but most did go to college or trade school and stayed out of trouble.

Education without parent/guardian involvement is just another failed top-down solution to a problem that doesn't really want to be fixed. Unfortunately, the gate-keeping done by schools encourages parents to abdicate responsibility and authority, because schools promise to fix what is wrong and do what parents can't - whatever that is.

[Isaac Bartram]

It did not matter if it was a single-parent family, grandparent or other guardian raising the child, non-English speaker, or 2-3 job holder -- if the parent checked in and reinforced the importance of education to her child, that kid did well.

In my observation, teachers and administrators hate those kind of parents.

Of course, the flip side is the "concerned" parent constantly complaining about their little darling who is just always being victimized with poor grades, discipline, etc that he/she doesn't deserve.

The later is the bane of any true educator's existance, while the former should be a natural ally.

But it is the second that the establishment always caves in to, while the first is dismissed as an interfering busybody always questioning and wanting to know what's going on.

[TrickyVic]

""Generally, the students I had who fared well were the ones who had parents who invested time in their children's educations. Surprise, surprise.""

I went back to school later in life. I was surrounded by young adults who were not really interesed in learning, turned in assignements late, and didn't read the homework material. Parents, schools, and teacher can't help when a kid isn't interested in learning.

Parents will rarely blame the kids, and it's politically incorrect for the schools to blame the kids. Some want to thing getting a bad grade makes you a victim. You earn a bad grade, you're not a victim of it.

The trick to good grades it making it your responsiblity to learn, and working for it.

[TrickyVic]

""Some want to thing""

Should have said, some want to think.

[puff-pass]

I ? Abdul.

[Fluffy]

The system in Newark is actually a rousing success.

You see it as a failure because you mistakenly believe the goal of that spending is to educate children.

The real goal of that spending has always been to spend the maximum dollar amount possible to employ minorities at public expense. Therefore, managing to get suckers to spend $22,000 a head on education in Newark is a massive success.

If the government was sending me $22,000 every time I posted here, I would count that as a huge success. Whether you got any utility from it or not.

[Deputy Eric Amerigo]

I know you're being sarcastic but these are real problems. You can either fix the problem with real effort and understanding or you can do it the expedient way, throw money at it.

If we stop throwing money at it then it will look like we don't care about education or minorities or both. The only other option would be to tear down the system and rebuild with people who care to work hard and understand the real needs of the community. This would gut the jobs of many important administration units and such. Chaos would ensue, Newark would burn.

If we keep throwing money we get to feel good while the entrenched interests keep their jobs and the kids keep to their proper place in life. This is a good thing.

[Mr Whipple]

There's much more to it than just throwing more money at it. Better coverage here:

http://www.nj.com/news/index.s.....istie.html

[Spoonman.]

My wife tutors kids in a failing high school in Houston ISD. A small example of the evil of bureaucracy:

Her best student is always about fifteen minutes late to first period. He lives two miles away, and HISD will not permit him to be bussed unless he lives 2.5 miles away. His mother works the night shift and is alone, so she cannot get him to school on time.

He is now on in-school-suspension and in three more days will be transferred to alternative school for being late too often.

They'll bus him to alternative school.

[Gray Ghost]

That sucks, but as a fellow Houston resident, there isn't a Metro bus he can take to get near the school? Or failing that, can't he just walk to school?

It truly sucks living in Houston without a car, I've done it, and it is absolutely miserable. But if the choice is between walking 2 miles and going to an alternative school/gang incubator, I'd start walking.

None of which excuses the bloated sack of crap which is HISD.

[Spoonman.]

I'm not sure why he can't walk to school, honestly.

It would, in fact, be cheaper to buy him a Metro pass than to send him to alternative education, but HISD is run by fucking morons, so no dice.

My wife was sick Monday and Tuesday, so the kids she tutors were taken on by other tutors. Yesterday she came back to discover that all of her kids were two days behind - meaning that the other tutors simply aren't doing their jobs.

[Gray Ghost]

Your wife's stories are not that surprising. I used to work nights with people who taught in HISD during the day. From what I gathered, their job was to teach to the Test, and only the Test. Once the Test was taken, it was a never ending diet of videos and entertainment until the school term ended. And unlike Newark or CA, teachers in Texas don't seem to make pallet-truckloads of money. I swear, a school administrator would sacrifice a class to Moloch if that was in their operations manual

I don't have kids, but if I did, I'd give up a whole lot to make sure they went to private school or were home-schooled.

[zoltan]

Here's the Austin ISD pay schedule

1st year: 51,000
10th year: 55,000
20th year: 62,000
30th year: 69, 000

Ain't too shabby.

Fort Worth ISD Teacher Salary Schedule

1st year: 46,000
10th year: 51,000
20th year: 60,000

And so on. Pretty decent for someone with a bachelor's who has a useless degree.

[Slut Bunwalla]

If he started walking to school his mom would probably lose custody for child abuse or something.

[VikingMoose]

mornin' reason.

[JW]

My god. What did you guys do to the Chomsky doll?

[JW]

My god. What did you guys do to the Chomsky doll?

[highnumber]

We double posted it. KnowhutImean?

[VikingMoose]

and doubled down on it.

but managed to get some stains on the leather-bound edition of "Heather Has Two Mommies" (the one with the sweaty pillow fight scene on page 69)

[Johnny Longtorso]

Obama seeks divine intervention on health care

Again, whenever authority wants to give it to us good and hard (the Iraq war, Climate Change, Obamacare), Jesus is there to supply the holy and sacred lube. Thank you Jesus, now go fuck off.

[capitol l]

Jesus is too busy helping sports teams win championships to get involved in public policy.

Just remember that when your team loses; jesus loves that other city more than yours...sinners.

[-]

Allah loves him some sports teams, but they're mostly prison teams.

[gaijin]

Seems like an episode for Family Guy!

[NeonCat]

If He would just heal the sick, we wouldn't need Obamacare. Jesus is far more selfish than any liberal's caricature of a libertarian could ever be.

[Edwin]

The explanations left healthcare advocates fuming. They accused insurers of trying to skirt the law's new requirement to cover children with health problems.

No shit. The law would basically force insurance companies to just give away buckets of money. Obviously they're trying to avoid that.

[SugarFree]

Don't be his porn. He just wants to jack off in your hair.

[MNG]

Man, it's 8:50 in the am, some of us are trying to eat breakfast here!

[SugarFree]

I only eat bile and hot sauce.

[capitol l]

Over easy, or scrambled?

[SugarFree]

Only sissies cook bile.

[Ruff Knight]

I always heat mine up to 98.6F, if you catch my drift.

[VikingMoose]

no.

no i don't

[Deputy Eric Amerigo]

what if you have a fever?

Uhhh, I think you've confused Edwin with Edward.

Not the same. Edwin is one of the good guys.

[Ayn_Randian]

I thought this was a good post! Maybe it's another Edwin?

[SugarFree]

Possibly. But there is a "Edwin" that's been running as a griefer.

[MNG]

Why would the GOP put Gitmo and Iran in there? They are on their way to a big victory because of general distaste with bailouts and spending, and they bring up the specter of saber-rattling for yet another war. Stupid, stupid... Here Dems, let us hand you your wedge issue!

[capitol l]

It's the same thing with teamblue's recent excesses; in that they get voted in(probably) on a wave of disgust for the other party and misinterpret this as a "mandate" to implement their "Comprehensive Issue of the Day Reform"* or their new "War On the Thing That Will OMG Kill Yer Kids".

I have only been cognizant of politics since about '92, but have seen this same process reran many times already.

And the cycle then repeats itself.

*I realize that this is yours from another thread.

[MNG]

Thanks for the credit, I'm still going to +1 this!

[capitol l]

I meant the (probably) to regard the reps taking the house and less probably the senate on a wave of disgust for dems.

Obviously the dems certainly won on a wave of disgust already in '06, and'08.

[MNG]

A big mistake the Dems made was not realizing they won mainly for being Not-Bush in 06 and 08. All they had to do was get in there an be Not-Bush: don't start any wars, don't let thousands die in any coastal cities, that kind of thing. No one wanted Big Ass Comprehensive Reforms for Every Issue Imaginable.

[Kristen]

'Zackly - the voting public is incapable of remembering anything that happened more than 2-3 years ago. "The Dems suck, and only the Repubs can save us!". Four years later: "The Repubs suck, and only the Dems can save us!"

[Tim]

For once I agree with you. Some sort of political Tourettes?

[capitol l]

Missile Defense $$, what the fuck?

We could end the world with what we have, and we need more. Also, if I am not mistaken, don't we spend billions each year on the upkeep of our current stock?

What is it 1985, did they release Rocky IV on blu-ray this week?

[Pro Libertate]

Say, did you hear back from Newt--I mean, Newcular Titties--yet?

[capitol l]

No he's probably mulling it over, it is a big decision.

In other news; I AM FUCKING RICH...

Attention: Winner,

Your e-mail address has subsequently won you
the sum of ?1,750,000.00 (GBP) in our
DELL LOTTERY DRAWS Contact: Mr.Fred
Martins for full details and claims
procedures. Email:[e-mail]

Fund Release Form Below
1.Full Name:
2.Full Address:
3.Marital Status:
4.Occupation:
5.Age:
6.Sex:
7.Nationality:
8.Country Of Residence:
9.Telephone Number:

Online Coordinator,
Mrs.Elizabeth Taylor

So long suckers...

[capitol l]

No, but I am sure he is mulling it over, it is a big decision and all.

I rarely check that email, but am pleased that I did. I have won the lottery in Britian, and someone wants to give me "FREE VICODIN!".

[capitol l]

if you type in "FREE VICODIN" don't give it any tags, the squirrels hate that.

[Pro Libertate]

Did you know that as recently as this morning that "Newcular Titties" had only one result in Google? Newt should not only adopt the name, he should trademark it and buy up the domain name.

[West Coaster]

That's a google-whacking winner! Just try to put two words into Google search and get *exactly*--no more, no less--one result. Harder than it seems.

[Pro Libertate]

Alas, "Newcular Titties" is now in two threads and may render more than one result.

Damned clean Google page right now, though. Gingrich is set when he makes the name change.

[Vermont Gun Owner]

Is it money for more missiles to shoot other countries with, or for ways to blow up missiles shot at us? Because if it's the later then the number of missiles we have isn't really relevant to that.

[smz]

97.4% of the "Pledge" is complete bullshit and just shows how out of touch the GOP really is (as evidenced by GOPers having Murkowski keep her post as ranking member on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee).

[Fluffy]

I for one cheer the insurance companies for going Galt on this issue.

I hope they do the same in more product categories as more of Obamacare's foolishness comes into play.

My enthusiasm for them is tempered, however, by the fact that they appear more than happy to accept inflated premiums from healthy people forced to buy mispriced "community rated" policies at the point of a gun. So they aren't exactly heroes. They're more like fugitive slave bounty hunters who, today, are in a dispute with a corrupt local sheriff.

[MNG]

Don't forget I'm sure they have little qualms with the provisions forcing people to buy insurance from them...What a f*cked up law.

[SugarFree]

The Sexting DA

Kratz, if you'll remember, is already under fire for texting abuse victim Stephanie Van Groll 30 times in three days, asking her questions like, "Are you the kind of girl that likes secret contact with an older married elected DA ... the riskier the better?" ? all while prosecuting her ex-boyfriend for strangling her. Apparently, Van Groll wasn't the only one to receive Kratz's bizarre attentions ? another woman has come forward to allege that he invited her to accompany him to an autopsy, "provided I act as his girlfriend and would wear high heels and a skirt." And a third woman, Maria Ruskiewicz, says he started sexting her after she sought his help getting a pardon for an old drug conviction.

[MNG]

Saw this on CNN. On the one hand there seem to be issues of abuse of power. On the other hand CNN acted like he had raped these women or something when he had just come on to them.

[SugarFree]

I just wonder if the autopsy date has ever worked for him.

Sort of like that David Cross bit about the garbage guy trying to pick up women while on the job: "I doesn't work all the time, but every once you find a girl who really wants to fuck on a pile of trash."

[zoltan]

Yeah but it is pretty bad that he's using his authority with someone who needs him to do his job in order to keep them safe.

[capitol l]

He'll probably be attorney general in ten years, governor in 15.

[MNG]

At the least he will get a CNN job.

[Mr. FIFY]

Worked for Eliot Spitzer... no accounting for taste on CNN's part, though.

[Tim]

On the other hand, the criminal justice system is usually far too impersonal...

[Flyover Country]

The Democrats are putting a lot of pressure on the story to distract from this: http://www.jsonline.com/watchd.....15314.html

They can only obsess about one thing at a time.

[Tim]

I heard some audio on the radio news this morning of Obama being heckled-by Leftists at some rally. Anybody got a link?

[SugarFree]

Remains of Warty's distant ancestor discovered in Utah.

[capitol l]

At least it has a nice late 90's haircut.

[Warty]

I'm glad my beak takes after the other side of the family, then.

Skeletons of Society

[Pip]

"Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg pledges up to $100 million to the Newark public school system."

Why not just incinerate it?

[SugarFree]

No tax write-offs.

[JW]

It has a much larger carbon footprint in Newark.

[gaijin]

isn't one of the desperate housewives of NJ, um, desperate?

[Rich]

A top House Republican told me "The Pledge" is "an important milestone showing our people we have learned our lesson and we are ready to govern."

Sorry, at this stage of the game it'll take more than such "assurance". Team Red is, and will be, powerless to implement the radical changes necessary. The complete draft can be found here.

[John]

The facebook dork giving the $100 million shows that you really don't have to be that smart to get rich. Honestly, does he not know the kind of money they are pissing away now? As Pip said above, if not for the tax break, he might as well burn the money. What a moron.

[Tonio]

Maybe he realizes that the money will not do any good for the children. That kind of donation buys a lot of goodwill (read: future votes). Suspect he's trying to set himself up for a future run as mayor, or something.

[zoltan]

He is smart...but just at website design.

[John]

http://www.lesjones.com/2010/0.....en-lately/

The reduction in debt has been due to defaults rather than people actually tightening their belts and paying things off. That is very depressing.

[Rich]

Where *is* Warren?

[Hacha Cha]

Also in the news... the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee unanimously passed HB 176 - The Anti-Cancer Research Act, without 1 hearing or speaking to 1 researcher, scientist, or doctor. The bill would criminalize 5 synthetic cannabinoids that are being researched for use in treating cancer, pain, MS, Alzheimers, AIDS, and other serious diseases. It would send cutting edge medical research, such as the kinds done at Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania, out of the state. It would also declare, without any evidence, that these promising compounds are highly dangerous and having no medical use. After passing the Judiciary Committee on Tuesday the bill was laid on, and removed from, the table and recommitted to the House Appropriations committee. Please consider signing the petition to Stop HB 176 - PA's Anti-Cancer Research Bill: http://www.change.org/petition.....earch_bill
Also in PA... all copies of the Institute of Terrorism Research's Response Intelligence Bulletins circulated by the PA Office of Homeland Security have been published online. PA basically conducted their own mini-version of COINTELPRO and spied on pretty much all grassroots political organizations. The bulletins can be found here: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/.....ins/771845

[John]

Who do you trust to determine what is a dangerous compound, some PHD at Penn who has been researching the subject for years, or some idiot whose daddy bought him a Pennsylvania House Seat so he would have something to do rather than screw up the family business?

[capitol l]

Ah, the wonders of democracy!

[TrickyVic]

There's a new term coming around the medical field, "evidence based". I doubt it's going to mean what it says. When you put partisan politics in charge of health care, evidence based, will probably mean, what we (the politicians) say.

[capitol l]

The co-sponsor of the bill is a frikkin cancer survivor!

[Cyto]

Are they all high?

[Rich]

[The TARP Inspector General] lamented that finding experienced people willing to come to work for a temporary agency was proving to be a challenge. "We're looking for experienced, white collar investigators who want to come over to a temporary agency, that is not the deepest of pools, to be honest with you, if I could find more I would hire more," he said.

I call bullshit on this. I daresay he could find all the people he needs right here at H&R. I am serious. Of course, his experience "requirements" are designed to be so specific that this crap will drag on for quite some time.

[Wise Ass]

I daresay he could find all the people he needs right here at H&R.

He's probably looking for people who can communicate with one another without saying "fuck" every fifth word. That's a shallow pool.

[Rich]

I beg to differ. In dealing with TARP malfeasance, the ability to say "fuck" every fifth word is a plus.

[robc]

Fuck you.

[TrickyVic]

""I daresay he could find all the people he needs right here at H&R.""

Isn't it a federal job. Most people here couldn't look at themself in a mirror after taking a government job.

[Spoonman.]

Shit, my underemployed wife could do that if we lived in DC, and she has a sociology degree. "Oh, you bullshitted this number? Hm. Well, you fail the inspection."

[Rich]

This.

[John]

Temporary positions are not conducing to attracting people sufficiently careerist and craven for the job.

[Mo]

You could have found people qualified here on H&R, but people willing to do it? Hell no.

[R C Dean]

[The TARP Inspector General] lamented that finding experienced people willing to come to work for a temporary agency was proving to be a challenge.

Give them the right pay package in a guaranteed contract, and you won't have any problem. Pay at the top of the scale for their background, give 'em a three year contract, and make 'em bounty hunters - they keep X% of every dollar they get back.

You'd be flooded with high-quality applications.

[Mo]

So we'll have a bunch of guys with mullets hunting down TARP fraudsters? Hopefully, CNBC could catch it on camera.

[Pope Jimbo]

No commissions. Give them the power of civil forfeiture.

Any banker they take down, they can seize his mansion, cars, and boats.

It has worked so well in the WOD, why not use it here too? What could possibly go wrong?

[Gray Ghost]

I wonder if Civil RICO could be applicable? And I agree that the unintended consequences would be breathtaking to behold.

[Brett L]

My favorite type of political hypocricy. The other team, who is now kicking our ass, has a shadowy cabal of hyper-rich greedmongers behind them. One of the greatest things about becoming politically non-affiliated was discovering that the tears of all political hacks taste equally sweet.

[Citizen Nothing]

...the tears of all political hacks taste equally sweet.
Hallelujah, brother! Sing it!

[Jerry]

Jon Stewart on The O'Reilly Factor talking about Obama Remorse.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

You do realize, of course, that Obama's ineffectiveness is all the fault of the mean, nasty, rotten (and of course racist) Republicans and stupid Tea Partiers?

[Draco]

In news from the Connecticut Senate race:

Middletown, CT. ? September 21, 2010 ? Warren Mosler, Connecticut's Independent Party Candidate for US Senate, says that his opponents, Democrat Richard Blumenthal and Republican Linda McMahon, have shown that, in this time of economic emergency, they are unqualified for the job of U.S. Senator by agreeing with each other that tax cuts in one place need to be 'paid for' by raising taxes in another.

These two candidates are apparently trying to avoid facing Warren Mosler in a televised debate, which is most easily effected by having no debate.

Unfortunately, from reading these comment boards, I conclude that there are also plenty of libertarians who agree with these morons Blumenthal and McMahon that any tax cuts will need to be "paid for," even given the current dire economic situation.

[R C Dean]

If by paid for, they mean matched with spending cuts, that's a good thing.

If by paid for, they mean offset with tax increases elsewhere, that's bad thing.

[P Fucking Brooks]

He's probably looking for people who can communicate with one another without saying "fuck" every fifth word.

"You spent a million fucking dollars to paint fucking parking lines on Main Street? Are you fucking shitting me?"

[Brett L]

I think you're one fuck short of quota.

[Slut Bunwalla]

Fuck your quota.

[R C Dean]

I think Team Red just stepped on their dicks with this Pledge. Team Blue set a trap for them, with all the Blue whining about "Well, what would you do."

Team Red should have (in rank order)

(1) Stayed silent. The name of the game is to win elections, and they are doing just fine by not having (D) next to their names.

(2) Issued a very short and bullety statement of intent type thing. Very hard to push back against, if you're Blue. Not like this tedious multi-page faux-SOTU wishlist.

Well, nobody throws a sure thing like Team Red. If they're lucky, this Pledge is so tedious it will vanish without a trace.

[John]

They were stupid to include foreign policy issues. Right now no one cares about Afghanistan and GUITMO. They care about the economy and the budget deficit. Moreover, the foreign policy problems facing the country are really fucking hard with no easy answers. This is not a Presidential election. They don't owe the country answers on those issues. So why give them? Put out some blanket statement about supporting the President's foreign policy and how politics should end at the water's edge. And then let Obama take some responsibility for once and twist in the wind.

They should have just talked about spending and the debt. They should have pledged to reduce spending back to 2007 levels, ended TARP and all other bailouts, ended all earmarks, and prevented the programed Bush tax increases and left it at that. That is all people wanted to hear.

The GOP establishment really is stupid. There is just no defending them sometimes.

[Brett L]

You imply that Team Blue is smart enough to set a trap, and Team Red needs to be set up to step on their own dicks. I question both of those assertions.

[VikingFuckingMoose]

one two three four fuck.
six seven eight nine fuck
eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fuck

yup that is pretty fucking hard not to do.

fuck.

[CitizenFuckingNothing]

Fuck.
It seems he's right.
Fuck.

[Deputy Eric Amerigo]

Fuck I'm hungry, does anyone know where I can get a toaster than can poach an egg?

[R C Fucking Dean]

Really, when you're dealing with fucktards, its fucking impossible.

[R C Dean]

Fucking joke name fucking "OFF", already.

[robc]

The Pledge is also an effort to respond to the allegation that the GOP is the "party of no."

Is there anything the GOP wont try to steal form the LP?

[CitizenFuckingNothing]

And those fucking Google transparency tools are fucking sweet, at least in principle.

[Rung Tee]

Oh wow, thats kinda crazy when you think about it.

http://www.web-anonymity.tk

[Ska]

You fucked it up anonhole.

[P Fucking Brooks]

make 'em bounty hunters

Egg Fucking Zackly.

[DJF]

Off topic but here is another example that the Chinese are not free traders. Luckily there are lots of places on earth with rare earth deposits, but they are not being mined because of the cheap labor and lack of environmental laws in China.

Amid Tension, China Blocks Vital Exports to Japan

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09.....ref=global

[DJF]

The Telegraph reports that it's a unofficial ban on exports of rare earth materials to Japan

China 'places unofficial ban' on key metals exports to Japan

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....Japan.html

[John]

One more reason why we should let the Japanese be Japanese again and let them have nukes. Fuck the Chinese.

[Brett L]

Eh. I'm not sure that's a wonderful long-term strategy for the people of Pacific Asia or the world. Waaay too many robots in Japan to allow them nucular weapons.

[Dane]

One thing law school did probably do for them and likely does for many others is provide an exposure to many things and offers a safety net if their true passion doesn't work out. So if that is worth $120,000.00 to you then law school is probably a great fit.

school scholarships and grants

[????? ??????]

Thanks