10:13 AM EDT

Howard is he still first ?

Maybe not with mydd bloggers but he's tops here and elsewhere.

my dd has gone over the edge.

and what exactly do you think that bush would  ignore laws. he doens't care. he is  a diktator.

10:26 AM EDT

it's April 2 --

-- just another day ? or a day to Think CBP ?:

http://www.planetpatriot.net/crystal_blue_persua_lyrics.html

Crystal Blue Persuasion

...

According to Tommy James himself, "when I wrote Crystal Blue, it was taken from the book of Revelation: the imagery of the new Jerusalem." But I prefer to think that the "blue crystal" is really the planet Earth. This song was a big hit in 1969, the year man landed on the moon, and television viewers saw a beautiful blue round crystal sphere photographed from space.

...

Bubba went over the edge.
Slick Willy ain't so slick anymore.
Hillary should dump the bum.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/02...

Morning Folks,

It just astounds me that Hillary compares herself to Rocky and Rambo.  What is it that women don't get about being strong in themselves, that strength doesn't have to be only masculine!! Like those dreadful power suits and ties, the rude assertiveness, good grief.  

Hillary is locked into the 70s mentality, just as people said Reagan was locked into the 1920s mentality.  

 There are a variety of strengths.  When is the human race going to see that the greatest strength of all is character, the courage to be who we are, the courage to find a way to peace and reconciliation, the courage to recognize that we aren't important in ourselves but in what we are privileged to contribtue, the courage of humility and truth.

Hillary, I'm sorry.  I feel grief for you in your fervent ambition that would jettison integrity, community, and honesty.  There were other ways to accomplish what you wanted to accomplish.  You have compromised yourself over and over, and that's finally what we are left with, a pseudo leader talking like Rocky.  

Beautiful day so far.  Hope you all have some joy today. 

Matt wrote "No, he would cut his taxes and let his innovations thrive to help all of society, instead of the Democratic party ideal, which of course demeans success, hopes to drag the achievers down the to those riding on their backs."

This hoary bromide is what gave birth to the notion that Bush's remedy for every problem is a tax cut.  There's been a series of them since he assumed office.  Has the nation successfully resolved its problems as a result?

Similarly, compare 8 years of this administration to 8 years of the Clinton administration, where taxes were increased.  Do you detect the distinction between the two eras in terms of industry innovation and social progress?   

Reducing taxes and regulatory restrictions has assuredly promoted one intended consequence.  Innovators, investors, and an elite tier of wealthy Americans have prospered extravagently.  Along with market forces and other legislated changes, these have combined to transform the former manufacturing based economy into a service based economy featuring less tangible products like business mergers and acquisitions, financial products, hedge funds, and other stock market speculation.  The result has been far less salutary to the economy in general than to the upper income beneficiaries who helped fashion these types of government reforms and corporate welfare policies in the first place.

The classic problem with laissez faire capitalism is that it is essentially a modern day feudal system, involving a small privileged class and a large population of serfs.  Eventually, the complete removal of government social and economic interference will benefit wealth holders because they can buy all their security measures, conveniences, and services for themselves.  The problem, of course, as most monarchs from the middle ages could tell you, is that a large downtrodden underclass does not promote a healthy, prosperous, or contented society in which members of the upper class can live without the threat of danger to their their lifestyle and personal safety.  Inconveniently, it's a social force as inevitable and powerful as economic market forces.

10:46 PM EDT

dog soldier --

Indeed.

Here's a song for Bubba:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPQlYhHJoCU

Good morning!

For all you basketball fans - here is a list of some seniors from March Madness and their GPA's and majors.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/4...

This is something my son pays particular interest in (which I think is a good thing!)

dog - My hubby thinks Hill will dump Bill when she loses the nomination. Maybe then she'll feel liberated.

I hope many of the state party chairs will write a letter in support of Howard Dean. This just makes me loathe the Clintons even more (as if that's possible at this stage).

We got your back, Howard. SEND MONEY TO THE DNC.

It just defies logic that anyone who claimed to be a Howard Dean supporter could support the Clintons. Shaking head...

7.

Tom Bearse

What happens to your utopia when the producers improving the life of the rest opt out, and stop participating as in Atlas Shrugged?? You cannot even see what you look like as you covet the profits of the producers to give to those that do not. Let me make a few suggestion as to how it appears: selfish, greedy, jealous, petty, vindictive. Do you give your kids an allowance or do they have chores they must complete to earn the allowance? Some kids get allowance each week just for being there on Friday. Others get the same allowance but have done their chores all week in order to get the allowance. You idea of confiscatory tax rates would support those parents that just pay their kids for being there regardless of their efforts or contributions. Others, like me, require the kids to participate and contribute to the family to earn their right to their allowance. It is a fundamental difference in how you view life. Either you are here to contribute or you are here to consumer the fruits of the efforts of others. One party supports the producers, one punishes them for their success while referring to them in the most vile terms.

When Hillary loses this nomination - I predict mydd will go down the tank and Jerome's credibility will go with it.

Still hope somebody files a law suit on the fence.  Agency heads all know that they can be held liable if they follow an illegal directive.   They're bumping up against property rights.  Good luck on that one.

by Drewid, Wed Apr 02, 2008 at 12:06:48 AM EST

So there's a few people running around thinking they would rather see a president McSame than the other dem candidate. Below are a few reasons to support whomever the nominee is whether it be Obama (most likely), Clinton (less likely), or some crazy convention coup by someone like Gore (very very unlikely, but being talked about).

    Cross posted at dailykos.                                                                                                                                                  

http://www.mydd.com/comments/2008/4/2/0648/29573//post#here 

Oddly, Tom, some people don't mind locking themselves into their houses, just as some people don't mind wearing really tight clothing.  I suspect that such people are suffering from a sense of insecurity and derive comfort from being confined.

What drove me crazy about living in Chile was the need to keep everything locked--rooms, closets, refrigerator, cupboards, drawers, etc.  And we weren't even well off, so the time it took to keep locking and un-locking really cut into the time available to earn a living. 

Just sent Howard some support via the DNC...

I asked if we could leave a comment with our donation, and she said yes that she takes them into someone's office. I said I was responding to all of the crap the media was giving him.....and then I added that we wanted him on the "ticket" and preferably at the top.

Now I feel better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrgAWuXEyKM

Matt wrote "What happens to your utopia when the producers improving the life of the rest opt out, and stop participating as in Atlas Shrugged??"

I'm not describing any utopia, and when producers stop innovating, they suffer the same fate as everyone else, the same as anyone who refuses to exert themselves and their energy towards surviving and prospering.

I don't understand why this opaque to you.  If it's posited that the best government is the least intrusive government, than the ideal government would be none, in other words, anarchy.  Then, the brightest, boldest, strongest, or most ruthless members of society could naturally rely on and exploit their abilities and resources to their own benefit.  Of course, anarchy does have some drawbacks, but look at the upside for the upper percentile of achievers!

The idea is to use the instrument of government, theoretically organized on behalf of the public for the general good of all of its members, as a counterweight to the greatest and most pernicious excesses of the free market.  Ultimately, the destruction or absence of either type of  governor on behavior is not going to redound to the benefit of members of any social class, either those who benefit from laissez faire capitalism or those who are disadvantaged by it.  Ideally, you want to establish an economic system with incentives that provide an engine for its continued operation, and a system of regulations and policies that helps create a social order which allows people to live freely and enjoy prosperity with a minimum of danger and antagonism.  What's preferable in the long term is the balance that's created by the tension between these contrary forces. 

Hannah Jones Rodham - is Hillary a chip off teh old block?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/4...

She was a slum lord.

teh s/b the

What's the point of a fence in the first place.  The only reason the Mexican people enter the US illegally is that employers here WILL hire them for substandard wages.

If a policeman picks up an illegal, the money paid by the Federal government goes to a Federal agency, not the local city or State police.  So it "Costs" the local city and State to pick up illegals.

Simple bureaucratic change: Use the money already in place to PAY THE LOCAL AND STATE POLICE FOR DEPORTING ILLEGALS !!!

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT INTENTIONALLY MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO DEPORT ILLEGALS!!!

Monica wrote "Oddly, Tom, some people don't mind locking themselves into their houses, just as some people don't mind wearing really tight clothing.  I suspect that such people are suffering from a sense of insecurity and derive comfort from being confined."

Strictly speaking, I'm not arguing for or against the value of this ideal any more than I am arguing for or against the desirability of living in a place and time when your doors were unlocked and people were free to come or stay out as they pleased.  You can make a case for or against the edifying aspects of living in circumstances of complete security against the evils of the world, or with complete trust in the cooperation of others to let people live and let live.

The point is that in promoting one or the other of contrary schemes to their logical conclusion, you inevitably wind up with unaddressed problems that were either inevitable or unexpected.  It's the curse of the doctrinaire theorist. 

How would you like to be the owner of the fence company on that contract?  I'll be the revenue gets back into a Republican pocket somewhere. And I'll bet they know the Bush family personally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39XhRrHp15o

This is what's located on the other side of our tree-line.  The snow pack is disappearing at an increasing rate.

http://www.airmap.unh.edu/data/data.html?site=AIRMAPTF 

They're building a new 80 foot tower which will have streaming video when it's complete.  At present the image changes every 15 minutes.  We used to be able to see this field from our house, but the university let scrub forest grow up in a field in between. 

I find this astonishing but a polling sample from Public Policy Polling has actually given a lead in Pennsylvania to Obama, 45 to 43%.  Here's a link to the press release and survey. 

PHILADELPHIA — Barack Obama mocked rival Hillary Clinton this morning for comparing herself to the movie character Rocky Balboa as he offered Pennsylvania labor leaders a speech laden with red-meat economic populism.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/04/obama_to_clinton_rocky_was_a_m.html

Seems to me that it is Hillary who is the real teller of fairy tales.

~~~~~~~~

Rasmussen Poll has Obama within five points of Clinton in PA (47% - 42%) as of 4/1/08

http://rasmussenreports.com/

On point, the border fence is the biggest waste of money just for show I can remember. Bi-partisan support just to look tough. Two points, 1. If you do not have the political will to defend the fence with deadly force it is as meaningless as a small hill in the desert. 2. If you can't keep drugs out of prisons, you are not going to stop people who want in out. It is a fantasy.

WY Governor endorses Barack!

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/4...

Expect a Rev. Wright ad to pop up in PA since Barack is closing the gap. What else can tall tale Hill do?

I'm glad you made that call Audrey. It's the right thing to do. We should all do it, perhaps all send $20.04 today.

~~~~~~~~~~~

mary vb,

Thanks for that -- so Hillary's family were notorious slumlords of Scranton PA. So much of her past has gotten a free pass from the media. I hope this gets played up bigtime.

And the Wyoming governor is:

Gov. Dave Freudenthal is a former Clinton administration official.

Bill could end up being the only former Clinton administration official to endorse Hillary:))

12:29 PM EDT

Well, it looks like the Clinton Corination Street machine

's another potentially-damaging reminder of those Go-Go '90s:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/04/02/clinton_testimony_on_fbi_files_blocked/

Clinton testimony on FBI files blocked

April 2, 2008

WASHINGTON—A federal judge has rejected an effort to force Hillary Rodham Clinton to testify in a decade-old lawsuit over White House acquisition of FBI background files.

The court ruling spares Clinton a politically sensitive deposition at a time when she is fighting to overtake Barack Obama in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The lawsuit is over the Clinton White House's acquisition of hundreds of FBI files on Republican appointees to White House jobs in previous administrations.

...

Some really bad news this a.m.

My daughter's good friend, a senior at Va Tech, died of pneumonia this week. A 23 year old young woman, a senior at Va Tech.

In this day and age, how does a 23 year old die from this?

I am heartbroken.

12:44 PM EDT

Speaking of fences, IS he (Feingold) or ISN'T he for Obama ?:

http://www.dunnconnect.com/articles/2008/03/25/news/news02.txt

By Bruce Dybvik, Reporter
Monday, March 24, 2008 10:00 AM CDT

...

Which Presidential candidate?

Q: “Which candidate do you support — Obama or Clinton?”

Feingold: “Amazing how they were both interested in me there for a couple of weeks, but I told them both, ‘If this is a clearly decisive victory for either of you, I will be heavily inclined to that person. Barak Obama carried 62 of 72 Wisconsin counties and all the congressional districts, so I’m highly inclined to support him if it ever came to that. I don’t think this super-delegate nightmare will play out but, if it did, that would be my inclination. ... I am very torn between the two candidates.”

...

Joan in Fl.....

Thank you...hope everyone leaves a message. Thay need to be able to keep taking our pulse.

Of course, my message was that we wamted Hpward pm the ticket, preferably at the top.

Sorry, that would be Hiward on the ticket

That would really be Howard on the ticket.

If I keep repeating it, I might get it straight.

Ideally, you want to establish an economic system with incentives that provide an engine for its continued operation, and a system of regulations and policies that helps create a social order which allows people to live freely and enjoy prosperity with a minimum of danger and antagonism. What's preferable in the long term is the balance that's created by the tension between these contrary forces.
_------------------

The founding documents do not in any way grant government the right, obligation, or power to "establish an economic system." That is what freedom does and that is the entire premise of Atlas Shrugged. The government robbing from the producers to give to those that are not. Eventually the producers go on strike to fight against their loss of freedom and liberty imposed by the government.

You must admit when 50% of all wage earners in the country pay NO federal income tax and the top 10% pay 90% of all the federal income tax paid, that something has gone terribly wrong. p.s. That disparity has gotten worse AFTER the Bush tax cuts than before due to the Child Tax Credit and expansion of the earned income tax credit that removed millions from any income tax liability. In fact, millions now receive a refund that exceeds the amount they even paid in through withholding as a result of the EITC.

12:57 PM EDT

Eyes Wide Shut ?:

http://yourerie.com/content/fulltext/?cid=7657

...

Some people are having such fun... The spouse thinks we should cut Hillary the same slack we gave Ronald Reagan. 

just gave $20.04 to DNC for Howard.

I love Rachel Maddow

1:04 PM EDT

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/stateupdates/gGBXgP

By Christopher Hass - Apr 2nd, 2008 at 11:09 am EDT

...

re: You must admit when 50% of all wage earners in the country pay NO federal income tax and the top 10% pay 90% of all the federal income tax paid, that something has gone terribly wrong.

yes, something is definitely wrong when 10% of the population controls 95% of the income.

Office of California Senator Sheila Kuehl
Press Release

Major Surge in Support for National Health Insurance among U.S. Physicians, New Study Finds

Solid majority support government legislation to establish national health insurance

full release: http://dist23.casen.govoffice.com/index....{1A764EB4-B065-406A-864D-8A62BD8A5778}&DE={4B112578-2D5A-4F7F-ADB9-5E044FFB40AE}

Bill and Hillary Clinton have both given speeches in Erie in the last few weeks. Who do you think is the better public speaker?

Bill Clinton (118, 25.4%)

Hillary Clinton (76, 16.4%)

No opinion (59, 12.7%)

I don't like either of them (211, 45.5%)

http://yourerie.com/content/fulltext/?cid=7657

No federal income tax is not the same as no federal tax.

As anyone with a paycheck can tell you, there's a lot more that comes out of your check than your federal tax withholding.  Even low income folks pay social security and disability and other taxes, none of which get cut when Bush announces a cut in the federal income tax.

This is why a tax system needs to be progressive across the board, not just within the federal income tax. 

Yes, but, people who go where they want, Susan, are impossible to control.  How are people who are into control going to cope?  They've persuaded themselves that civilization is location-specific; that if people don't stay put, they can't be civilized.  That's their way of reconciling the conflict between giving orders and resisting orders.  "You have to do what we tell you, because it's good for you."

Majority Of US Physicians Favor National Health Insurance
Science

Daily (Apr. 1, 2008) — The largest survey ever of American physicians' opinions on health-care financing has found that 59 percent of doctors support government legislation to establish national health insurance while only 32 percent oppose it. A similar survey conducted by the IU researchers in 2002 found 49 percent of physicians supporting national health insurance and 40 percent opposing it.

The 2007 survey results demonstrate a significant change in the level of support for national health insurance. Nearly every medical specialty showed an increase in levels of support for national health insurance. With the exception of radiologists, anesthesiologists and surgical subspecialists, a majority of every medical specialty now support national health insurance. ...full article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/200...

1:22 PM EDT

fyi - new Front thread

April 1, 2008

Indiana University Study Finds Majority of U.S. Physicians Favor National Health Insurance Support Has Grown 10 Percent Over Past 5 Years

INDIANAPOLIS — The largest survey ever of American physicians' opinions on health-care financing has found that 59 percent of doctors support government legislation to establish national health insurance while only 32 percent oppose it. A similar survey conducted by the IU researchers in 2002 found 49 percent of physicians supporting national health insurance and 40 percent opposing it. ...

..The nationwide survey queried 2,200 physicians and was conducted by the Indiana University School of Medicine’s Center for Health Policy and Professionalism Research (CHPPR). The results appear in the April 1 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The latest survey indicated that 83 percent of psychiatrists, 69 percent of emergency medicine physicians, 65 percent of pediatricians, 64 percent of internists, 60 percent of family physicians, and 55 percent of general surgeons favor government action to establish national health insurance.

There are more than 800,000 doctors in the U.S., so this 10 percent increase in support for national health insurance represents at least 80,000 physicians who have changed their minds about national health insurance, study authors Aaron E. Carroll, M.D., M.S., assistant professor of pediatrics and director of CHPPR, and Ronald T. Ackermann, M.D., MPH, assistant professor of medicine and associate director of CHPPR, report in their Annals of Internal Medicine paper.

"Many claim to speak for physicians and represent their views. We asked doctors directly and found that, contrary to conventional wisdom, most doctors support national health insurance," said Dr. Carroll.

"As doctors, we find that our patients suffer because of increasing deductibles, copayments, and restrictions on patient care," said Dr. Ackermann. "More and more, physicians are turning to national health insurance as a solution to this problem."

Both Dr. Carroll and Dr. Ackermann are affiliated scientists of the Regenstrief Institute, Inc.
...

full article: http://www.medicine.indiana.edu/news_rel...

Fox, I actually believe that trade and exchange are instinctual human behaviors.  Where a problem arises is in the human proclivity to lie or deceive (which may also be instinctual, considering that other creatures have that ability, as well), as well as to engage in atttavistic behaviors such as excess accumulation (like the pack rat) which, in combination, produce inequities which it is society's obligation to correct.

If we all had perfect knowledge of past, present and future, then the free market might work.  Since we don't, we need to rely on those with experience to provide rules and regulations to keep the accumulative and manipulative instincts in check.

Actually, society can neglect its obligations.  Then humans revert to the default mode of sustaining themselves--predation.  

The Regenstrief Institute is a 25-year old research foundation located on the Indiana University School of Medicine campus and is dedicated to the study and improvement of health and health care delivery.

The Regenstrief Institute, Inc is a joint enterprise of the Regenstrief Foundation, Inc., the Indiana University School of Medicine, and the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County.

Institute investigators include members of the faculty of Indiana University's School of Medicine, School of Liberal Arts, School of Informatics, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, and staff of the Richard L. Roudebush Veterans Administration Medical Center.

... http://www.regenstrief.org/mission

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regenstrief...


Sam Regenstrief wanted to make this a better world for rich and poor alike. He set in motion a system—a research engine created out of a special relationship between the Regenstrief Institute, Wishard Memorial Hospital, the Regenstrief Health Center, and IU School of Medicine, with the Regenstrief Medical Record System as the key tool—that is addressing an urgent societal need and shedding light on how to make life better for many.

(Book) Sam Regenstrief - Legacy of the Dishwasher King: http://www.regenstrief.org/mission/sam-r...

new thread

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5B0oyJ5tHA