December 2009 Archives

It's been awhile since I've been on to comment or post and there is good reason. I'm drowning in paperwork. Our district is clamping down on student retention. This is part of a statewide effort to retain fewer students. This was a major topic in my book but it seems things are moving onto the next step since the book was published. Different districts have different alphabet soups, but they all mean the same thing....

You remember what happened to Joe Lieberman in 2006.  After being the Dem Veep candidate in 2000, he went from darling to goat after climbing into the sack with GWB and backing many of his policies, especially the invasion of Iraq and its continuing occupation.  He sided with the Repubs in the Senate on many key issues, enraging the Dem leadership.  When up for re-election in Connecticut in 2006, the Dems primaried him with progressive...

As I predicted this morning the Dorgan Amendment, which would have allowed the importation of prescription drugs from Canada and elsewhere, failed today. From Associated Press:The 51-48 roll call Tuesday by which the Senate rejected a plan that would allow Americans to import low-cost prescriptions from abroad. Sixty votes were needed to pass the measure.A "yes" vote is a vote to pass the measure.Voting yes were 27 Democrats, 23 Republicans and 1 independent.Voting no were...

The Copenhagen climate talks continue, while everyone waits for world leaders, including President Obama, to arrive on Friday.  The last week at the COP 15 has not marked much progress in extending or modifying the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the UN leadership is even having trouble keeping everyone in the boat.  African nations staged a brief walkout yesterday after demonstrations on Sunday complaining that the developed nations won't pay enough...

So what's left? No public option, no Medicare buy-in, thanks to President Lieberman. The 90% medical loss ratio? That's dead, too. The Dorgan amendment on drug importation comes up for a vote today. Look for that to disappear as well. The ban on denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions and recission is still there so far, but then again President Lieberman isn't through making demands yet. Stay tuned. But have no fear, the individual mandate...

Dear President Obama and Senator Reid, This is what happens when you make a deal with a snake. Sooner or later you're very likely to get bitten. November 17, 2008: "Senate Democrats appear willing to let Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut, keep his powerful Homeland Security Committee chairmanship, even though he campaigned vigorously for Sen. John McCain's White House bid...Several lawmakers involved in the discussions over Lieberman's fate credited President-elect Barack Obama's desire to keep Lieberman...

There was a piece about illustrator Willis Pyle on CBS Sunday morning today.  He was one of Walt Disney's original artists, drawing Pinocchio and many other famous characters.  They played a video of one of his works from 1966, designed by R. O. Blechman.  I thought you would enjoy it:...

Not being a resident of the city of Houston, but having been born there and having lived there until 4 years ago, I was an interested observer of yesterday's run-off election for mayor. Reading 2 accounts of the results, one in the New York Times and one in the Houston Chronicle, the opening paragraph in the Chronicle puts the election in much better context, in my opinion. The NYT:"Houston became the largest city in the...

In the bass-ackwards world of health care reform, I guess this shouldn't be surprising, but the Senate yesterday refused to put an amendment, which would allow drug importation from Canada, up for a vote because they were afraid it might pass. "Debating an overhaul of the health care system, the Senate found itself tied in knots on Thursday over a bipartisan proposal to allow people to import lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada and certain other...

Well, that didn't take long. The Senate "compromise" is already dead. Joe Lieberman said no to even a triggered public option:"I've told them that I can't support a trigger--no, actually, to be more explicit: If they say that it's unlikely to be [pulled] then it's unnecessary," Lieberman said. "It's an irritant."And Olympia Snowe said no to the Medicare buy-in:"Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) said Thursday that she does not support the Medicare buy-in because it would...