About last night....

I bet you're not surprised that I have some thoughts on Obama's speech last night...

First, I gotta tell you about my adorable 2 year old son. He was crying in his room, didn't want to go to sleep. So I let him lay in bed with me to watch the speech. Now this kid LOVES Obama. I think he finds Obama's voice very soothing, he will often fall asleep in no time when listening to him. But, last night we were watching and he kept pointing at him... Then (and this just cracked me up)... he started clapping out of no where... I said "Why are you clapping, buddy?" and duh! He saw all the congresspeople clapping so he was just following along. He did it just about every time they did, usually with a delayed response.

So, to the speech. I love that he was very confident, forceful, yet optimistic and hopeful. I think he hit the right balance with the seriousness of the time, yet hopeful for our future. Now, tell me that I drank the koolaid, or that I'm a sap... I don't care, but I got teary eyed... thinking about how our country could be! I love that Obama is so over-achieving for us... All our politicians should be that way. It's frustrating to me because he will be fought on this stuff, every step of the way.

He's right though... the best way to fix the economy.. is to fix all the broken parts. I've been saying that by making healthcare affordable, it's like a tax cut, it puts money back into people's pockets to spend. If they have to spend their extra income on medical expenses... well that's money they won't be able to use to buy a car, or send their kid to college.

I was watching MSNBC and they had a group of Obama voters and McCain voters hooked up to the dial.. and to my surprise the McCain voters often had the dial up higher that the Obama ones! I think as a majority, the people of our country want this stuff done, and I think they would even pay a little more to have it.

......and then Jindal came on. I wasn't going to watch it... but I have to say that I felt like a friggin' teenager getting a lecture from one of my parents. He was so god damn condescending, that it drove me nuts. We are not fools. We know that he is pandering to the right... because everything he brought up, the republicans had made a mess of it. He was an amateur after the likes of Obama.

A few tidbits:

--There is no 8 billion dollars in the stimulus package for a high speed rail from Las Vegas to Disneyland. That is a blatent lie, that repubs have been called out on every time they bring it up. It reminds me of the "Bridge to Nowhere". Palin kept using that despite being proved wrong. It's so ridiculous.
--And even though Bush made an "investment" in the Medicare drug program... It's crap! It doesn't work well at all. I can attest to this. My patients have the Medicare Part D programs, and they STILL have to pay outrageous amounts of money for their drugs.. The only people that made out from that deal was the pharmaceutical companies.
--I can't stand to listen to the wealthy people and corporations cry and whine about Bush's stupid tax cuts expiring. Hello! You have money. You can pay the normal tax rate like everyone else. It's not like Obama is gonna take all your $$, despite you trying to make everyone think that way.
In fact, I am going to write to the White House and offer up my $65/month to them to help get things done. If any of you can afford, I encourage you to do the same.

Would this be a dealbreaker?

I got to thinking today about how Hillary is having dinner with Chinese diplomats tonight. If you are a picky eater, would that exclude you from being able to be Secretary of State?
I know that seems silly, but it could majorly offend governments if you won't eat what they serve you for dinner.

Change Change Change

I have so much to say this morning.
I feel like I might be a relic, a dinosaur... soon to be extinct. I rarely pat myself on the back, but...

I do okay, I am very lucky. My husband and I have decent jobs, a reasonable home, great family, wonderful son. We are able to pay our bills, feed our family and have a little extra for some fun things. I don't strive to make millions. I don't live my life to make money no matter what the cost. As far as the tax cut in the stimulus package, I'd rather them take mine and put it towards healthcare, education, infrastructure or give it to someone who needs it more than me.

My healthcare went up $100/mo this year. I AM concerned that at this rate, I will be unable to afford it. My yearly raise never amounts to anything because it mainly absorbs the hike in healthcare costs that I suffer. BUT I HAVE healthcare. Imagine families that don't have it.

It gets OLD hearing everyone panic about the debt. It seems so ridiculous. We've had debt before and turned it into a surplus. We can do that again. We can't when the economy is dire, and we have 2 wars going on. But, it's not the END OF THE WORLD.

I heard someone talk about how we are moving towards socialism. Like it's a dirty word. Are you happy with having police, firemen, and teachers? Hate to break it to you, but that's socialism. It's not all bad. I think we can find a free market world with a dash of socialism that can suit us all.

Now to my point about Change. I've heard how Obama "promised change"... "Where is the change we can believe in?". How can we expect things to change when everyone is so afraid and clinging onto the past. We have to be uncomfortable and allow things to BE changed. I know it's scary going into unchartered waters, but something needs to be done. We need to re-examine our entitlement programs and make them better, that requires change, we need to do something about healthcare but that will require things to change.... If our legislators keep up this standstill, there will be no way change can happen. The legislators need to feel uncomfortable too, go out on a limb against what we're used to and get the job done for the citizens of the US.

or else then we vote new people in.

Don't be fooled!

There is a bunch of nonsense going around about how the new stimulus bill will make it so that healthcare decisions about you can't be made by you and your doctor. It's nonsense.

Here is a good article by Howard Dean explaining the provision. Before entering politics, Gov Dean used to be a practicing doctor.

http://tinyurl.com/aobndr

The GOP is gearing up for the healthcare battle.
Again, I maintain that Healthcare should be a right, not a priviledge.

Government jobs

I want to take a moment to discuss this.
The GOP would have you believe that these are the worst jobs in the world. They always say that people don't want to "expand government".

However, anyone I've ever talked to that has actually worked for the government has never complained about their jobs at all. They get damn good benefits, good holidays, and usually good working hours. Job security is generally pretty good.

I worked for the WIC program that is run by our county government and it had one of the best compensation packages I've seen. Health insurance was very economical.

And I venture to say that anyone currently unemployed would give anything to have one of these jobs.

I mean, after all... the Congress is a government job.. and they seem to want to hang onto their jobs... they have great benefits and pay... so why wouldn't anyone want that gig?

You also hear how the American people don't want to spend taxpayer dollars on fixing the economy.... Ummm.... Is there any better thing TO spend it on? (except maybe healthcare :D) With the economy in the tanker, nothing else works.

At what point?

Does this GOP opposition seem absolutely absurd?
I would love to live in a world with bipartisanship. And I don't think the stimulus plan was a great way to try to get that started. I mean, after all... it goes to the core of the differences between the parties. Democrats believe in govt programs and the GOP believes in tax cuts. I don't think you can distinctly judge the future of bipartisanship based on this.

However... when you see all the comments like "It's a GOP victory!".. that this is their "comeback for 2010"... That infuriates me. This isn't a political game. This is all of our well beings, esp those of us that aren't wealthy. Every little decision matters. You can still stand by your beliefs and make concessions at the same time. This is what adults do in their every day life at their real jobs. I know for one, I don't always agree with my supervisors decisions, but alas I follow them. That doesn't mean that I give up my belief that there might be a better way.

We ALL deserve better.

Happy Birthday!

to my baby. He's 2 years old. I'll be up to my ears in family and party stuff today.
I can't remember what my life was like without him in it... and it simply keeps getting better every day.

Why don't we want better?

(click on picture for video)

This absolutely broke my heart. It doesn't matter how many times I watch it, it brings me to tears. Especially at the end when she says "Please help." And our President walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek and took the time to find out who she is. She is the face of what this economy has done to families. No one should have to live out of a truck because they've had the bad luck to lose their job.

Really this makes me angry. To have so many people criticize the social programs that give people down on their luck a chance to get by until hopefully something better comes along. Forget Welfare programs, food stamps, food kitchens, shelters... Don't you all see we NEED these programs? It can happen to anyone! We need this safety net.

And the argument that people on welfare are lazy and suck off the system... I DEFY anyone to try to live on welfare money. No one is happy to be on welfare. No one dreams of living off the system. For the life of me, I cannot understand how intolerable of human suffering we can be. How if we truly are the richest country... that we can treat our very own citizens like trash that can be discarded. Why don't we embrace programs that help our citizens get back on their feet, invest in our weakest members?

It just breaks my heart...

I'm actually jealous of Missouri....

I am a huge fan of Missouri's Senator D- Claire McCaskill.
During the election she was on the news networks campaigning for Barack Obama. You couldn't help but notice her. She speaks so clearly, matter of factly in terms that we all can understand. She's like a next door neighbor that always greets you and that you like chat with over the fence.

I'm impressed with the way she communicates. I have become a twitter follower of hers (I'm still trying to figure out how twitter works) and she was reporting from the Senate floor the other night when they were discussing the Stimulus bill and it's fascinating to see what goes on. She can discuss anything with people that have dissenting opinions from her in a respectful way to get her point across. I love to watch her take on the big boys in the Senate. If you haven't seen footage of her last week arguing for a salary cap for bankers, you have to go see it now.

It's nice to see a smart, powerful woman who can serve as a great role model for young women. We have a lot of great women these days to admire. Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Condoleeza Rice... I could go on.

oh.. and while I was on twitter, I sent Sen McCain a couple messages on how I feel about the lack of support for womens' issues. :D

Edited to add: I just noticed that when you "twitter? tweet?" a link, it automatically converts it to tinyurl. That's awesome.

A little bit off topic....

For all the mothers out there.
My son is about to turn 2.
I'd like you to comment when you started potty training your children...
and any good advice you may have.

The truth comes out...

Per T. Coburn (R) Oklahoma.

I'm paraphrasing here.... He told the news that one problem with the stimulus plan in that 1 out of every 5 jobs created is a government job.

I'm pretty sure the persons obtaining those jobs wouldn't have a problem with it.

But, it's not about ideology...

Howard Dean for Health and Human Secretary!

That is all!

"You lost"

Dear Republicans,

Are you happy now? You are a bunch of sore losers. You take advantage of the fact that Democrats are the "nice guys" and you count on the fact that Democrats don't like to look mean. Well, Barack Obama has done nothing but reach out to you. He's held several meetings to get your ideas because he genuinely believes that you might have some good ones. And how do you return the favor?? You announce before the final meeting that you are all going to vote against it no matter what? Then you whine and cry about how you were left out of negotiations. When did any Republican go this far to include Democrats? This is how compromise is defined by Webster dictionary, --"a settlement of differences by arbitration or by consent reached by mutual concessions". The key phrase is mutual concessions.-- You can't just have everything you want and then throw a temper tantrum like my 2 year old son when you don't get your way.

You are masters at twisting the truth. The so-called pork in the Stimulus package amounts to 1%. Now, I agree with you in the fact that there are several things that should be cut out of it... but you need to play fair. You are trying to manipulate the public into thinking that it's all bad. Meanwhile, people are losing jobs, struggling to feed their families.

And for the cabinet nominations... You have purposely held back confirmations, for what? To flex what little power you have? You are quick to roast Obama's set backs, but you won't even let him have his team into place? Free Hilda Solis. You have no reason to keep her from her post. You managed to get Tom Daschle to resign. You embarassed Hillary by making her wait a couple days. And poor Eric Holder.. he almost had to accept your blackmail proposal (a deal to not prosecute the Bush administration) to get through confirmation. Get off of it. Bush had plenty of people up for confirmation and the Democrats never went this far to oppose them, even when they had good reason.

Charlie Crist R-Gov of Florida said it best tonight... He supported McCain and even campaigned for him, but he didn't win. And now Barack Obama is his president and he will do what he can to help him succeed because he loves this country. The fact is that Republicans lost the election. The people voted for Barack Obama because they liked HIS ideas. You all need to respect that and give the guy a chance. I've heard several people "appalled" that Barack Obama would tell you that "He Won"... but more than that.. You LOST. The American people wildly rejected your principles. I know that's hard to accept. But let's move on. We've got a country to rebuild from the last 8 years of your failed policies.

Sincerely,

A Proud American.

Requesting you....

1. I want to send some special thoughts to Cynthiaa.. a loyal reader to my blog.
She is going through something right now that no parent wants to face. If you could see fit to include her in your prayers, or thoughts, I'd appreciate it.

2. If you tend to check in often, I invite you to "follow me". It will make it easier for you to get here, and for me to get to your blog. If you want to stay anonymous, I completed understand.

3. I'm trying to figure how to use twitter. I'm JenZny if anyone wants to communicate via that... or if you have any advice how to use this thing to my advantage, that would be great. I'd love to tweet some Congress members, if I new how to find them.

Tax Cuts....and the out of touch elephants.

I've been hearing the same theme over and over and finally need to share my thoughts.

While I believe it is worthwhile to have some tax cuts in this stimulus legislation (esp to the people that make the least amount of money).. the GOP is trying to make the argument for more of them.

This has NOT worked in the past 8 years when it happened. In fact, look at where it got us. Most of the middle class either saved it or paid down debt. The higher class usually invest it. The poorer people are apt to spend it on food, clothing and other necessity items. Why would we keep banging our head against the wall after receiving bruises from it?

To stimulate the economy, we need to spend on smart things. Mainly, for infrastructure. Look at how this country is falling apart. One never knows if they will make it across a bridge alive anymore. We can't keep abandoning these projects!
States need help. With the large amount of people getting laid off, they have to provide more unemployment, food stamps, medicaid/medicare... and the states could not have anticipated this in their budgets last year and now it's too late. We can argue that many of the things that have made it's way into the bill shouldn't be there, but these 2 items I just laid out are the most important in my view.

I just see the GOP as out of touch.
One R -congressman (can't remember his name) tried to argue that what we really need to do with the recovery program is to give everyone
*drum roll please* .............

.... a CAR voucher.

You see, people want to buy cars right now but they can't. and a $3,000 car credit/voucher to buy hybrids will work!

How about we just get back to basics.