...that was sent by me to the Anchorage Daily News yesterday follows. I don't know if the paper will run my letter, so I'm running it here:
Senator Lisa Murkowski claimed (Compass, June 19) that the health care bill in Congress was both “unworkable” and “unaffordable,” citing cost estimates, a “broken” Medicare, and what she believes is an onerous “massive government intervention.”
Fast-forward to the June 20th town hall forum hosted by Senator Mark Begich, during which the vast majority of attendees supported a “public option” in a much needed health care overhaul. Add to that, polling data that show 72% of Americans want a government-run plan, that most Americans are willing to pay more in taxes to have one available, and that the government would do a better job running health care than the insurance industry. And add to that, the fact that 115,000 (18%) of Alaskans are uninsured, along with nearly 50 million other Americans.
What is patently clear is that the current health care system in the U.S. is unworkable and unaffordable, and shamefully so. The Republican health care “plan” hasn’t changed since the 1930s. Senator Murkowski would do well to stop regurgitating Republican talking points and help Senator Begich to push through the health care reform Americans and Alaskans so badly need.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thought all should know...
It's a girl! Born to Deder and Andrea Siedler in Eugene Oregon at one-ish in the afternoon today, June 19, an 8# baby girl. Baby, mother...and father reportedly doing well. Name to be named as soon as official. Proud first-time grandparents Bill and Genie are buoyant and elated. Newly minted grandfather Bill can scarcely wait until newly minted granddaughter is old enough that he can say to her: "Pull my finger!"
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Not Only Is...
The American Right-Wing much, much better armed than the American Left, it is much, much more likely to use those arms on those whom it perceives to be the reason white, fundamentalist Christian males are losing their long-held privileges over minorities. Privileges right-wingers think of as "rights" for them, and "special rights" for anyone who's not them. Secession talk in Texas, the killing of Dr. Tiller, the Holocaust Museum security guard and the killing of three cops in Pittsburgh, PA have surely made the Department of Homeland Security report on right-wing extremism look prescient now, even though it was originally panned by Fox News and other conservative media outlets.
Much the same thing happened when Clinton became president, and it's only more so since the election of Barack Obama. This phenomenon is particularly evident here in Alaska, where gun store owners have proclaimed, "Obama is the best gun salesman I've ever had." I can attest to this attitude from personal experience. I recently went into the Wasilla Sportsman's Warehouse looking for ammo. Asking why the shelves were empty, the guy behind the counter explained the shortage by confiding to me, "Some people think there's gonna be a war." I was tempted to ask him with whom this war was to be fought, but I already knew. Even stranger days may lie ahead.
Much the same thing happened when Clinton became president, and it's only more so since the election of Barack Obama. This phenomenon is particularly evident here in Alaska, where gun store owners have proclaimed, "Obama is the best gun salesman I've ever had." I can attest to this attitude from personal experience. I recently went into the Wasilla Sportsman's Warehouse looking for ammo. Asking why the shelves were empty, the guy behind the counter explained the shortage by confiding to me, "Some people think there's gonna be a war." I was tempted to ask him with whom this war was to be fought, but I already knew. Even stranger days may lie ahead.
Friday, June 5, 2009
The once-a-fortnight blog continues...
With this gem from the Daily Kos, quoting Bill Maher:
"Rush [Limbaugh] and his ilk have come up with a name for the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court that's been 99 percent white men for 200 years, and that name is 'reverse racist.' She is a racist and someone has to stop her because for too long white men have been kept down by powerful Puerto Rican women!"
---Bill Maher
__________________________________________________________________
Back here in the Greatland, Anchorage Daily News columnist Elise Patkotak combines the Religious Right's mis-belief that America's laws are somehow based on the Ten Commandments - and their fear of gay marriage. Demonstrating that only two commandments of the "Decalogue" are actually in law (#6, "Thou shalt not kill," and #8, Thou shalt not steal). Further, Elise reminds us that all known cultures and civilizations since humans became human have embraced those very two concepts, regardless of religion. How else could any culture survive?
She adds that:
"If your religion requires you to shun gay people, shun away. But your god cannot take away their civil liberties because the Constitution make it crystal clear that those rights and liberties did not come from any god." I particularly like the way she boldly uses the lower case "god." It shows that Elise is not afraid to demand that religious people need to succeed in what Oliver Wendel Holmes referred to as the "market place of ideas," and cannot expect the rest of us to defer to religious views only because their religious.
__________________________________________________________________
New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize winner in economics Paul Krugman puts the current financial crisis' roots squarely where they belong. In the administration of Ronald Reagan, hero of the Republican Party, who signed the law that gave the banking industry"a license to gamble with the taxpayers money" due to the catastrophic long-term effects of deregulation. Go to the NYT website and find it.
_________________________________________________________________
Finally, it looks like two petty crooks (bribery) who were once representatives in the Alaska State Legislature may actually get out - part of the fallout from the US Senator Ted Steven's(R-Alaska) affair, where the USDOJ (under Obama) dropped all seven charges to which Uncle Ted was convicted (under Bush). This was due to mishandling of Steven's case by prosecutors, NOT on the evidence. Ted's age (82) was also a factor in Attorney General Holder's decision to not retry.
Not quite so lucky are former state reps. Pete Kott and Vic Kohring, as even though they may be released temporarily, their convictions may still hold up. After all their was indisputable video evidence of the bribes-for-votes for both of these guys. Hell, Vic (my own former representative) went down for like, 200 bucks and a bottle of vodka. Stay tuned on this one.
"Rush [Limbaugh] and his ilk have come up with a name for the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court that's been 99 percent white men for 200 years, and that name is 'reverse racist.' She is a racist and someone has to stop her because for too long white men have been kept down by powerful Puerto Rican women!"
---Bill Maher
__________________________________________________________________
Back here in the Greatland, Anchorage Daily News columnist Elise Patkotak combines the Religious Right's mis-belief that America's laws are somehow based on the Ten Commandments - and their fear of gay marriage. Demonstrating that only two commandments of the "Decalogue" are actually in law (#6, "Thou shalt not kill," and #8, Thou shalt not steal). Further, Elise reminds us that all known cultures and civilizations since humans became human have embraced those very two concepts, regardless of religion. How else could any culture survive?
She adds that:
"If your religion requires you to shun gay people, shun away. But your god cannot take away their civil liberties because the Constitution make it crystal clear that those rights and liberties did not come from any god." I particularly like the way she boldly uses the lower case "god." It shows that Elise is not afraid to demand that religious people need to succeed in what Oliver Wendel Holmes referred to as the "market place of ideas," and cannot expect the rest of us to defer to religious views only because their religious.
__________________________________________________________________
New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize winner in economics Paul Krugman puts the current financial crisis' roots squarely where they belong. In the administration of Ronald Reagan, hero of the Republican Party, who signed the law that gave the banking industry"a license to gamble with the taxpayers money" due to the catastrophic long-term effects of deregulation. Go to the NYT website and find it.
_________________________________________________________________
Finally, it looks like two petty crooks (bribery) who were once representatives in the Alaska State Legislature may actually get out - part of the fallout from the US Senator Ted Steven's(R-Alaska) affair, where the USDOJ (under Obama) dropped all seven charges to which Uncle Ted was convicted (under Bush). This was due to mishandling of Steven's case by prosecutors, NOT on the evidence. Ted's age (82) was also a factor in Attorney General Holder's decision to not retry.
Not quite so lucky are former state reps. Pete Kott and Vic Kohring, as even though they may be released temporarily, their convictions may still hold up. After all their was indisputable video evidence of the bribes-for-votes for both of these guys. Hell, Vic (my own former representative) went down for like, 200 bucks and a bottle of vodka. Stay tuned on this one.
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