Archive for February 5, 2010
Gov. Mark Sanford Begs for Stimulus Money; Rejected it Less Than a Year Ago
March 10, 2009: South Carolina’s Governor Mark Sanford was the first governor to proudly reject some of the federal stimulus money earmarked by congress for his state:
The move will cement Sanford’s growing reputation as a political powerhouse among Republican party stalwarts nationwide…
February 5, 2010: Mark Sanford meets with Education Secretary Arne Duncan, requesting,
his state’s share of an education grant authorized as part of last year’s stimulus — a $787-billion pot of money Sanford in part once declined.
The Republican governor spent much of Thursday meeting with Education Secretary Arne Duncan in Washington, according to media reports, pitching his state’s application for “Race to the Top” — a billion-dollar, highly competitive grant program designed to encourage schools to innovate.
Has anyone seen a report about this on Fox? I didn’t think so.
New Orleans-Area Teen Sent Home For Wearing Colts T-Shirt
A Maurepas, Louisiana high school student, who used to live in Indianapolis, was sent home from school Friday for wearing an Indianapolis Colts T-shirt to school.
Corporations have freedom of speech now but apparently we don’t.
A Million Dollars is Not a Lot of Money
Perfect for use in Democratic campaign ads: Michael Steele, Chairman of the RNC: “Trust me, after taxes, a million dollars is not a lot of money.”
How. Out. Of. Touch. Is. That?
Unreal.
Good Weekend to Snuggle Up to Your Friendly Lobbyist in DC
I hear that Washington, D.C. is set to get something like a foot and a half of snow this weekend. Sounds like a good weekend for legislators and lobbyist to snuggle a little closer together in that bed they share.
Tea Party Convention Forgets to Display American Flag
The Nashville Tea Party convention opened today but unlike traditional party conventions, there was “no prayer or Pledge of Allegiance to open the convention — nor was there an American flag in the convention hall.”
Hey, I don’t think conventions should necessarily include all those things but prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance and flags are at the heart of the Tea Party movement. How could they possibly leave out all three of them? One, maybe, but all three?
They’re Robbing Us
Well, well, well. What have we here? Anthem Blue Cross — the largest insurer in California — has apparently decided that it is going to raise rates on individual policyholders as much as — are you sitting down? — 39%! And that’s on top of a similar increase last year. That would be a roughly 80% increase over a two-year period for some people.
California state insurance regulators say they’re going to investigate. Ah, yeah.
Police State
What in the world are we doing around here?
A 12-year-old Queens girl was hauled out of school in handcuffs for an artless offense – doodling her name on her desk in erasable marker, the Daily News has learned.
At the Food Bank
Just got back from my volunteer time at the food bank.
Very, very busy. No let-up in the families coming through. Volunteers who usually spend their time stocking (that would be me) had to walk clients around instead. Fortunately, the shelves were already full.
The only fresh produce we had were apples and potatoes but we had more dairy than I’ve seen in the year I’ve been there: provolone cheese, American cheese, cottage cheese, 2% milk and soy milk (chocolate and vanilla).
We had plenty of beans, rice, canned veggies and fruit but we also had grapefruit and apple juice, which is unusual. And we had laundry soap and toothbrushes — all 15 of them were gone within two hours.
I’m always tired when I get home. Stocking is physically tiring and seeing the desperate people who come through is emotionally tiring. But, I’ll go back next week.
Flashback
Remember back in July of 2008 when Phil Gramm, who at the time was advising John McCain, said this?
You’ve heard of mental depression. This is a mental recession. We have sort of become a nation of whiners. You just hear this constant whining…
Wonder where ol’ Phil is now.
