Group 1:The Right Wing of the GOP (McConnell, Boehner, Cantor, Grassley, et al) that has spread misinformation and sown fear in the hearts of their constituents, aided and abetted by Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck and [...]]]> If Health Care Reform dies in Congress, its blood will be on the hands of two groups of people and one individual:

Group 1:The Right Wing of the GOP (McConnell, Boehner, Cantor, Grassley, et al) that has spread misinformation and sown fear in the hearts of their constituents, aided and abetted by Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck and other Conservative commentators who are producing more heat than light.

Group 2: The ignorant, uninformed and gullible Americans who swallow those lies and distortions because they don’t have the information or the intelligence to challenge them and separate fact from fiction.

The Individual: President Obama, who won a resounding electoral victory in November…whose party controls the House and Senate and who has (HAD) the support of the overwhelming majority of citizens to bring about the change he promised during the campaign.

If he fails to use that mandate, he will have blown a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring about the kind of progressive change the country elected him to accomplish.
He should remind the GOP that he won and they lost, and that it’s now time for them to get out of the way.

During last year’s primary, I had doubts about Obama’s willingness to fight for what he believed in, and often thought he could use some of Hillary’s toughness.

Now, during this crucial health care battle, I find myself wishing that he could borrow a pair of balls from his Secretary of State.

But the statewide survey of 550 registered voters has one very surprising finding: 23 percent of Texans are convinced that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is a Muslim.

Obama [...]]]> A University of Texas poll to be released today shows Republican presidential candidate John McCain and GOP Sen. John Cornyn leading by comfortable margins in Texas, as expected.

But the statewide survey of 550 registered voters has one very surprising finding:

23 percent of Texans are convinced that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is a Muslim.

Obama is a Christian who was embroiled in a controversy earlier this year about his two-decade membership in Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ. Yet just 45 percent of those polled identified the Illinois senator as a Protestant.

The Texas numbers are unusual because most national polls show that just 5 to 10 percent of Americans still believe Obama is a Muslim —

less than half the number of Texans who buy into the debunked theories.

Texas has never been mistaken for the western headquarters of MENSA. And voters in any number of other states would probably — and sadly — produce the same poll results.

After two years of campaigning, and extensive coverage by national and local media, it’s stunning — and embarrassing — that one in four of the people polled still hold this view.

Anyone still think they should be permitted to vote?

The record $438 billion for the budget year that ended last week is up from $162 billion posted last year. The previous record of $413 billion was posted in 2004.

Remember when Republicans were [...]]]>

The federal budget deficit hit a new record in the just-completed 2008 budget year under the latest estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.

The record $438 billion for the budget year that ended last week is up from $162 billion posted last year. The previous record of $413 billion was posted in 2004.

Remember when Republicans were considered the fiscally responsible party and Democrats were tax and spend liberals? The Bush Administration has succeeded in destroying yet another myth about the wisdom and governance of the GOP. The economy is in its worst shape in decades, the federal budget is being destroyed by a combination of bad policy and two foreign wars, and the only thing Republicans want to do about it is add hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to the recently passed $700 billion bailout bill.

This disturbing lack of ideas and any set of problem solving skills only add to my prediction that there will be a landslide in favor of Democrats on November 4. People are too worried about their wallets right now to trust a political party that got us into this mess and have no clue how to get us out of it.

Oh really? Than can I please have my money back that went to Bear Stearns? Surely, an investment bank and its shareholders will be just fine without my lowly contribution. I would also appreciate an advance on the hundreds [...]]]> “I don’t think the government ought to be involved in bailing out companies.”

Oh really? Than can I please have my money back that went to Bear Stearns? Surely, an investment bank and its shareholders will be just fine without my lowly contribution. I would also appreciate an advance on the hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars that are about to go to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Saying one thing (“The United States should not be in the business of nation building.”) while doing the opposite – something both parties can agree on.