Musings of a Liberal Texan

>What's truly stunning to me is that the ultra-conservative contingent of the republican party has endorsed Perry. The guy that made a huge show of declining bailout money but showed up at the back door with an application for funds when no one was looking. Perry's Secret Jerusalem Trip Raises Questions Reporting Bennett Cunningham The city of Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world and it has a new defender: Texas Governor Rick Perry. In August, Perry was given the "Defender of Jerusalem" award. So Perry and his wife flew first class to Israel at more than $5,000 per ticket. The governor's security detail of four Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers was also along for the trip. They all took the 7,000 mile journey to accept the award at a time when the governor was asking everyone else in state government to cut back on travel. During a speech in Houston , Perry directed state agencies to "curtail taxpayer funded trave...

LIEBERMAN THE LYING WANKER from Chattahbox.com Lieberman’s 60th vote is needed to get the Senate bill to the floor and overcome a Republican filibuster. And once again, he is abandoning the Democratic Party when he is most needed. Despite his campaigning for Sen. McCain during the presidential election and speaking out in opposition to candidate Barack Obama during the RNC, Majority Leader Harry Reid still welcomed Lieberman back into the fold and allowed him to retain his committee assignments. During Lieberman’s 2006 Senate run as an Independent, after losing the Democratic primary to Ned Lamont, Lieberman campaigned heavily for single payer, universal health insurance for all: “What I’m saying to the people of Connecticut, I can do more for you and your families to get something done to make health care affordable, to get universal health insurance,” Lieberman said during a July, 2006, debate. Lieberman also supported a proposal called, “MediChoice,” which would “allow anybody ...

JOE LIEBERMAN SUCKS Howard Kurtz (WAPO) writes: This from a senator who, as much as anyone, helped run up the national debt since 9/11 by pushing to raise the military budget to its highest level since World War II. It is a budget inflated by enormous expenditures on high-tech weaponry irrelevant to combating terror, such as the $2-billion-a-piece submarines -- produced in his home state of Connecticut -- that he claimed were needed to combat al-Qaida, a landlocked enemy holed up in caves. Lieberman is worried about the impact of a very limited public option on the debt the same week as he and others in Congress passed a $680-billion defense bill larded with pork of the sort the Connecticut senator has always supported. . . . Maybe he can also take some time then to justify his strong support for the government bailout of troubled banking and insurance companies that has tripled the federal deficit this year to $1.4 trillion. Is AIG not now a 'government-run insurance company,...

Good People Musings I know a lot of good people. I mean, a lot of really good, thoughtful, kind, compassionate, dear people. This is not about them. This is about a couple of people that I heard today that were such a resoundingly refreshing gust of crisp, cool and wonderful air that I feel the need to share. Alan Grayson You probably know him as the guy that said the republican health care plan is if you get sick, die quickly. Today I heard him in a committee meeting when he requested the opportunity to ask questions of Broun (Republican Rep from Georgia, I think) who has initiated legislation which, again, attempts to pull all funding from ACORN. He coolly asks if Broun knows what bills of attainer are. This is something specifically called out as unconstitutional as it attempts to spearhead legislation towards a particular entity in an effort to punish. Essentially, it is a way to bypass the judicial branch and the legal system. Grayson is repeatedly asked to relinquish his time to...

The Evil Public Option (from the funpie weblog) In the town where I grew up, there were a couple of mom and pop bookstores, one called Borders, and one called Barnes & Noble. These small businesses, the backbone of our economy, provided a wide array of reading material, music and games, along with coffee and scones. Each also provided a type of membership card. The one from Borders was free, and entitled holders to additional discounts on books and free desserts on their birthdays. The one from Barnes & Noble cost $25 and entitled holder to save at least $25 over the course of purchasing something like another $1000 worth of books. Both were a great deal, and these little mom and pop stores provided each other with a healthy competition in the spirit of the American Dream. Then one day, a “public option” was forced upon my little town. This government-run public option – some called it a “library,” I called it a nazi-loving beauracratic nightmare – had the audacity to sw...

Quick Musings As anyone can tell you, I believe in close and firm monitoring of those entities involved in the financial system. Clear and present reform as well. But it appears that our tendency is to focus on the label rather than the content. There are swirlings of outrage regarding Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs was a huge company. Thousands of people worked for that entity. Thousands. Was each and every single person involved in that company tainted, a money grabber that threw our country into economic ruin? Was each and every employee at Enron corrupt? Judging by the outrage, the crying, the blank, bewildered looks by those carrying their belongings from the building in cardboard boxes the answer would have to be no. It is our way to sweepingly swipe at an entire entity - Iran (all of Iran), California, Wall Street, Conservatives, Liberals - and cast all out. Baby. Bath water. Let's show a little insight, a little maturity, and little bit of wisdom. Healthcare You can say socia...

Beyond the Fringe Right Reaction Here is a round-up of world reaction to the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Obama as reported by news agencies . UN SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON We are entering an era of renewed multilateralism, a new era where the challenges facing humankind demand global common cause and uncommon global effort. President Obama embodies the new spirit of dialogue and engagement on the world's biggest problems: climate change, nuclear disarmament and a wide range of peace and security challenges. FRENCH PRESIDENT NICOLAS SARKOZY It confirms, finally, America's return to the hearts of the people of the world... you can count on my resolute support and that of France. ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR In a short time he has established a new tone, creating a willingness for dialogue and I think we all should support him to make peace in this world possible. There is a lot do but a window of opportunity has been o...

Yeah, yeah, SNL is funny. I find it amusing that the far right only finds the humor when they are scoring on Obama but whatev. Here's a quick list of what Obama did in his first 100 days. But let's not forget, the mess that was left for him will take years to clean up. Expecting a new guy to come in and completely clean up all the graft, the sleeze, all the infiltration of outside influences, within a year is naive. It took well over 8 years to get to this point, it will take time to clean it up. 1. Health Care : The Obama White House cleared an important hurdle in the health care reform debate when it appropriated $19 billion in the stimulus package to help implement an electronic medical record system. The money is paltry compared to the hundreds of billions set aside for an overhaul of the health care system in the budget. But officials inside and out of the White House say its significance is hard to overstate. "We need to have health IT so we have a better idea both o...