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jebbypalReally, in high school I found the entire political arena to be completely ridiculous. Then it was my opinion that it wasn't too much to ask that a lot of elected officials over the age of 30 behave rationally and generally in the public good. Since then, I've given up and become a complete cynic.
So, the round up of what has me bitching today:
1) According to Matt Miller (Nyties editorial), "Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, military pensions, civil service pensions, defense and interest on the debt" make up 75% of the entire federal budget. However, that is not substantially more than the 20-22% of the GDP that the last 4 administrations have spent on budgets. The reason for our incredible logarithmic (my exagerration, not his) increases in our deficit the last 6 years? Simple, Bush's tax cuts that have decreased revenues from 20% of the GDP to under 17%. Yet Bush and congress keep pushing for more spending (as well as wars, notice their stances on Iran and North Korea) and more tax cuts...the only place they want to cut back is social security and Medicare. How bout this, Mr. President? I'll support your cuts to social security and Medicare when you have ONE relative recieving the majority of their income and health coverage from those 2 programs. Sound fair?
2) Can't we all just get along? So apparently Bush has gotten tired of hearing Dobson's wailing and hystronics since he lost the filibuster issue. So now he wants to take a stand on John R. Bolton's confirmation. He is describing the honest and critical debate that is occuring in the Senate as "stalling" by Senate Democrats. News flash: there are moderate republicans (yes, I know, a truly endagered species) who are concerned about this man's fitness as well. But more than offering criticism, Bush has "indicated that he would not grant them access to intelligence documents they have demanded to see before allowing the confirmation to go ahead." Fortunately Democrats aren't backing down yet, but so far this drama is playing out incredibly similarly to the judge debate. Somehow I suspect thatDobson Bush wants to push all the buttons he can in order to cause the Nuclear Option for the Filibuster to occur before he starts nominating supreme court justices. Seriously, did they not teach how to compromise and negotiate in Yale when he went to school?
Oh, and the extreme irony of the situation -- these comments were made :"on the day the White House and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice marked the second anniversary of the White House program to slow nuclear proliferation, in which Mr. Bolton was a key player. The targets of the program include North Korea, Iran and Syria." (quotes taken from Richard W. Stevenson's linked article).
3) Planned Parenthood of Indiana has to show state investigators the medical records of some of its youngest patients, a judge ruled on Tuesday. "Since March, Attorney General Steve Carter has been seeking the records of more than 80 patients younger than 14, saying his Medicaid fraud unit is trying to determine whether children have been neglected because molesting incidents were not reported to the authorities as required. Under Indiana law, anyone under 14 who is sexually active is considered a victim of sexual abuse, and health providers are required to report such cases to the state authorities.
The Judge's 23 page decision comes down to: "The great public interest in the reporting, investigation and prosecution of child abuse trumps even the patient's interest in privileged communication with her physician, because in the end, both the patient and the state are benefited by the disclosure,"
Guess Judge Johnson didn't spend anytime watching Soap Operas during the 1980s when almost every show featuring a pregnant teenager ended with a public service announcement imploring sexually active youths to go to planned parenthood for contraception as well as health exams. I hope he and the Attorney General are ready to accept the responsibility when the teen pregnancy and HIV infection stats begin to raise in their home states as a response. Now I'm all for treating sexual abuse victims and prosecuting the offenders, but this isn't the way. And I'm sure that the employees of Planned Parenthood attempt to look for those patients that are under 14 and frequenting them as well as trying to advocate they get help if they need it. (quotes from linked article by Monica Davey).
Bloody fascists. That's all I have to say.
ETA...and thought I should mention this. As always, feel free to discuss in the comments. These are my reactions only, but I'm totally willing to talk more in depth if anyone wants.
So, the round up of what has me bitching today:
1) According to Matt Miller (Nyties editorial), "Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, military pensions, civil service pensions, defense and interest on the debt" make up 75% of the entire federal budget. However, that is not substantially more than the 20-22% of the GDP that the last 4 administrations have spent on budgets. The reason for our incredible logarithmic (my exagerration, not his) increases in our deficit the last 6 years? Simple, Bush's tax cuts that have decreased revenues from 20% of the GDP to under 17%. Yet Bush and congress keep pushing for more spending (as well as wars, notice their stances on Iran and North Korea) and more tax cuts...the only place they want to cut back is social security and Medicare. How bout this, Mr. President? I'll support your cuts to social security and Medicare when you have ONE relative recieving the majority of their income and health coverage from those 2 programs. Sound fair?
2) Can't we all just get along? So apparently Bush has gotten tired of hearing Dobson's wailing and hystronics since he lost the filibuster issue. So now he wants to take a stand on John R. Bolton's confirmation. He is describing the honest and critical debate that is occuring in the Senate as "stalling" by Senate Democrats. News flash: there are moderate republicans (yes, I know, a truly endagered species) who are concerned about this man's fitness as well. But more than offering criticism, Bush has "indicated that he would not grant them access to intelligence documents they have demanded to see before allowing the confirmation to go ahead." Fortunately Democrats aren't backing down yet, but so far this drama is playing out incredibly similarly to the judge debate. Somehow I suspect that
Oh, and the extreme irony of the situation -- these comments were made :"on the day the White House and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice marked the second anniversary of the White House program to slow nuclear proliferation, in which Mr. Bolton was a key player. The targets of the program include North Korea, Iran and Syria." (quotes taken from Richard W. Stevenson's linked article).
3) Planned Parenthood of Indiana has to show state investigators the medical records of some of its youngest patients, a judge ruled on Tuesday. "Since March, Attorney General Steve Carter has been seeking the records of more than 80 patients younger than 14, saying his Medicaid fraud unit is trying to determine whether children have been neglected because molesting incidents were not reported to the authorities as required. Under Indiana law, anyone under 14 who is sexually active is considered a victim of sexual abuse, and health providers are required to report such cases to the state authorities.
The Judge's 23 page decision comes down to: "The great public interest in the reporting, investigation and prosecution of child abuse trumps even the patient's interest in privileged communication with her physician, because in the end, both the patient and the state are benefited by the disclosure,"
Guess Judge Johnson didn't spend anytime watching Soap Operas during the 1980s when almost every show featuring a pregnant teenager ended with a public service announcement imploring sexually active youths to go to planned parenthood for contraception as well as health exams. I hope he and the Attorney General are ready to accept the responsibility when the teen pregnancy and HIV infection stats begin to raise in their home states as a response. Now I'm all for treating sexual abuse victims and prosecuting the offenders, but this isn't the way. And I'm sure that the employees of Planned Parenthood attempt to look for those patients that are under 14 and frequenting them as well as trying to advocate they get help if they need it. (quotes from linked article by Monica Davey).
Bloody fascists. That's all I have to say.
ETA...and thought I should mention this. As always, feel free to discuss in the comments. These are my reactions only, but I'm totally willing to talk more in depth if anyone wants.
