But one of the most notable additions to the 35-page bill was a $2.1 billion increase in funding for a dam under construction on the Kentucky-Illinois border, which just happens to be the home turf of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). It has raised the alarm bells of conservatives, who have long complained about Republicans who spend heavily on their home states. One group, the Senate Conservatives Fund, immediately christened the dam project the “Kentucky Kickback.” “The McConnell-Reid bill not only funds Obamacare and suspends the debt limit, it ALSO includes a provision…that increases the authorization for the Olmsted Lock in Kentucky … Continue reading Earmarks…..

A recent poll by the Massachusetts Medical Society, a statewide physician group, finds that most people in Massachusetts today are generally satisfied with the health care system there. “Eighty-four percent of residents expressed satisfaction with the care they received over the last year, including 56 percent who indicated they are ‘very satisfied’ and 28 percent who are ‘somewhat satisfied,’” the survey report states. Seventy-three percent of residents reported that gaining access to health care they need is “not difficult,” and for serious medical problems, 86 percent said the amount of time they needed to wait was not a problem. While no … Continue reading They Might Just Like It…..

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA Amid escalating threats from North Korea, U.S. and South Korean defense officials will meet over the next few days and discuss whether to extend America’s wartime control over the South’s armed forces, 60 years after a truce ended the Korean War. SOURCE: U.S., South Korea debate military control 60 years after war’s end – CBS News. I was nine years old in 1955 when the Korean war truce was called. My father fought in WW II and fortunately unlike today was not called up once, let alone again and again as our soldier are now. Sixty years is … Continue reading 60 Years… Enough Is Enough…

“This is an interesting thing to ponder,” he said of his detractors. “That your top agenda is making sure that 20 million people don’t have health insurance and you’d be willing to shut down the government and potentially default — for the first time in United States history — because it bothers you so much.” SOURCE: At Black Caucus Dinner, Obama Vows to Continue ‘March’ on Gun Control, Healthcare – ABC News. The logic currently used by the Republican party in opposing Obamacare bothers me much.  I really want to believe that my conservative friends out there actually care about their … Continue reading Making Sure People Don’t Have Health Insurance…

I wish President Bush and many of those presidents before him had taken the words of Jefferson to heart before they did many of the things they did.  I know it is against basic human nature to not utilize the power you control. Just look at all those yahoos in congress to see an example of abused power. I have read quite extensively on Jefferson so I know the words above were at the heart of his nature. OOPS –  I guess I was in too much a hurry to get this weekend quote out and forgot to add the … Continue reading Less Power….

SOURCE:  Across Egypt, piles of ash where church pews once stood (+video) – CSMonitor.com. While we are meddling in the various civil wars in the Middle East, and aren’t almost all of them in one form of war or another, how do we choose which side we are one? It seems in Syria and Egypt the “rebels” are the extremists who are burning churches that are not muslim whenever they come across them.  How do we choose where to inject a few billion dollars to affect the outcome. Mr. Obama is trying to make the case to drop bombs and … Continue reading Across Egypt, piles of ash where church pews once stood

Skeptical European foreign ministers on Saturday urged the U.S. to delay possible military action against Syria until U.N. inspectors report on last month’s suspected chemical weapons attack. SOURCE: European leaders urge U.S. on Syria: Slow down – CBS News. Will President Obama listen to some of the leaders of the other 95% of the world’s population and not rush into another war, no matter how limited he claims it to be?  Going it alone has cost this country too much in terms of our debt and what we have left spend on the “least of these”, let alone the lives of … Continue reading European leaders urge U.S. on Syria: Slow down

But has Obama damaged the power of the president by allowing Congress its say? Is his decision, in fact, a “historic American retreat” – at least within the context of domestic politics? Certainly, he’s doing something that no recent US president has done. Ronald Reagan invaded Grenada in 1983 and bombed Libya in 1986 without congressional approval, and Bill Clinton committed US forces to NATO air campaigns in Bosnia in 1995 and Kosovo in 1999 and launched a missile attack against terrorists in Afghanistan in 1998 without congressional backing. When Obama signed on to the 2011 Libya operation without involving … Continue reading A Weaker President – Good……….

North Korea on Sunday accepted a South Korean offer for talks on reuniting families separated by war, but proposed separate talks on resuming lucrative tours to a scenic North Korean mountain in an apparent effort to link the two discussions. SOURCE:  Koreas agree on talks to reunite families separated by war – CBS News. I sure hope that this latest opening between North and South Korea is successful. That country needs to finally re-unite. They have been separated for 60+ years, mainly because of politics and superpower actions.  I love the fact that this latest conversation was started by the … Continue reading Koreas agree on talks to reunite families separated by war

The Post, according to its own announcement of its sale for $250 million, has suffered a 44 percent drop in operating revenue over the past six years. Like other once-prosperous big-city dailies, it has been wounded by the defection of readers and advertisers to Internet competitors. No major U.S. newspaper now claims to have a business model that would guarantee its survival, let alone its success long-term. But the “long-term” is where Bezos’ mind naturally likes to go, says Brad Stone, senior technology writer for Bloomberg Businessweek. Stone’s forthcoming book “The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon” … Continue reading Thinking Long Term….