Finally, A Carbon Tax In The U.S.

Of course President Bush would never dream of such a plan to institute a carbon tax, but California is coming through anyways. The Golden state is going to cash in with a carbon tax slated to begin in the Bay Area as soon as the final vote occurs next month. This could possibly be a model for the entire nation.

From The San Jose Mercury News:

The fee - 4.2 cents per metric ton of carbon dioxide - would affect everything from oil refineries to power plants, and landfills, factories and small businesses like restaurants and bakeries.

The largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the Bay Area, the Shell oil refinery in Martinez, would pay $186,475 a year for its 4.4 million annual metric tons of emissions. The largest emitter in Santa Clara County, the Hanson Permanente Cement Plant in Cupertino, would pay $44,507 a year for its 1.05 million tons.

After years of voluntary measures, the fees, proposed this week by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, set a precedent as the first time that businesses and government agencies would face financial consequences for contributing to global warming. If successful, the fees could be copied all over the state and country, perhaps ultimately at much higher prices.

The higher the better I say. Companies must pay for their part in destroying the environment. These funds are necessary to fund clean energy and recycling programs in California and across the country. The industries that pollute the most claim that these taxes will only hurt the consumers, but consumers know that they hurt already from increasing prices based on the greed of industry, especially from the oil refineries. They know their time is limited, either by the fact that they use finite resources or the pressure from the public. Ultimately, I hope the public wins, before we all lose our planet.

You're Not Gonna Believe This One

President Bush, saying one thing and doing another.....over and over and over again.



It really does amaze me how Bush can talk tough about going after Iran for trying to obtain nuclear capabilities, while simultaneously funding their research. Wow.

High Speed Rail To Debut In America

For a mere $1.35 billion dollars, President Christina Kirchner has signed the contract to connect Buenos Aires with Cordoba and Rosario, cutting travel times by more than 2/3rd.

Oh were you expecting to hear about cities in the United States receiving this transportation upgrade? Think again, President Bush and Congress have barely given Amtrak enough to survive, let alone grow and perform on the par of Europe. I took the EuroStar last year and was amazed at how great train travel can be. On the other hand I have also transversed the United States by rail and there is no comparison. Out of three train tickets, only one was ontime, the other two delayed by two and eight (yes, eight) hours.

So get a load of what we're missing...and Argentina is receiving:

The contracts have been signed, and the first high-speed railway in the Americas will be built very soon - but not where you're thinking. Argentina's new President Christina Kirchner, wife of former President Nestor Kirchner, signed the papers last month with a consortium led by French company Alstom to connect the country's major cities by high-speed rail.

The $1.35 billion contract calls for a 440 mile (710 km) high-speed rail corridor to connect Buenos Aires with Rosario and Cordoba. A second line will connect Buenos Aires with Mar del Plata in the future. The train will cut down travel time between Buenos Aires and Cordoba from fourteen hours today to a mere three hours a couple years from now.

The is quite a step in Latin America, where rail service has been systematically mismanaged, neglected and dismantled in recent years, and bus service has become the standard for long distance journeys. Not to be outdone by its neighbor, Brazil is planning its own intercity passenger rail service, with a high-speed connection proposed between Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

Jealous? I certainly am. Instead of wasting all that money in Iraq, this could be one of the projects we incorporate into the budget to make America move faster and more effectively. Currently Amtrak touts the Acela, an overpriced ride with connections from Boston to Washington, D.C. that has a top speed of 150 mph. The only problem is that the tracks it runs on are owned by freight companies. So at most you shave an hour off the commute instead of the ideal two or three.

Good For You Hillary

I know I don't say it much, but I'd like to congratulate the Senator from my state for taking a principled action on behalf of her daughter today. You see, David Shuster's comments the other night about the Clinton family pimping her daughter out were out of line. His pathetic attempt at an apology wasn't much better. So Hillary took the right action and canceled her appearance on MSNBC for a scheduled debate.

From The Huffington Post:

SEATTLE — A distasteful comment about Chelsea Clinton by an MSNBC anchor could imperil Hillary Rodham Clinton's participation in future presidential debates on the network, a Clinton spokesman said.

In a conference call with reporters, Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson on Friday excoriated MSNBC's David Shuster for suggesting the Clinton campaign had "pimped out" 27-year old Chelsea by having her place phone calls to celebrities and Democratic Party "superdelegates" on her mother's behalf.

Wolfson called Shuster's comment "beneath contempt" and disgusting.

"I, at this point, can't envision a scenario where we would continue to engage in debates on that network," he added.

I wouldn't want to go on MSNBC either, especially when you have buffoons like Chris Matthews who can't keep that misogynistic bullshit to himself and insists on continuing to attack Hillary for being a woman. Damnit Chris, there are plenty of reasons to go after her, but leave that stone age man thing at home. Then when you tack on David Shuster and Andrea Mitchell, the bloviating opinions would be too much for anyone to bear, even Mrs. Clinton.

Now if she would rescind her request to debate on Fox News, that would be real progress for her.

Daaaa-ngah!

Does anyone still believe this buffoon?



Sounds like he's a danger to himself

George's Bouncy Ball Is Full Of Lead

The State of the Union is usually a chance for a President to increase his approval ratings, with all the applause and grand ideas laid out before the Congress and the nation. The touching and heartfelt appearances by someone in the audience that is or could be affected by plan A or B is always nice icing on the cake. However this was Bush's last S.O.T.U. address and hardly anyone likes him, so could this be his last chance to win some people over?

Nope:

The dour public mood seems to chiefly reflect distress over the doddering economy, which has seen job cuts, financial market slides and real estate losses stoke recession fears. Bush's approval for handling the economy dove to 29 percent, a slide of 4 percentage points in a month and matching his low on that issue, with noticeable slumps among middle-income people, Southerners and city residents.[...]

Yet Bush's acceptance by his own party is at bottom in the AP-Ipsos poll. Just 61 percent of Republicans gave Bush positive reviews; his previous low was 65 percent last month. Only 28 percent of them expressed strong approval.

About one in 10 Democrats and three in 10 independents gave Bush positive marks.

Wow one in ten Democrats approve? Who are these people and what rocks do they live under?

As Unions Fall In Line Before Bruno, Aubertine Plans To Keep Jobs Upstate

Sadly, the AFL-CIO became the latest union to cower before Bruno and endorse the anti-union candidate in Senate District 48 upstate. Will Barclay is Joe Bruno's horse in the race and if he doesn't win, the rumor in Albany is that Joe will just retire and not run for re-election. He knows that without holding the majority, there is no reason to stay in office because all of his power will evaporate and then he can't make all the sweetheart deals (with those unions for starters) that he has grown accustomed to.

So what is challenger Darrel Aubertine doing in reaction to all of this union drama with Joe Bruno?

Darrel's plan starts with efforts to retain jobs in the 48th Senate District, by protecting New York workers and promoting New York products.

Remove Benefits for Outsourcers: Darrel promises to work toward Senate adoption of the State Financial Incentive Protection Act. This would prohibit companies that cut jobs due to outsourcing from receiving taxpayer-funded incentives (A11682, 2004). While similar legislation was defeated in the Senate this January, Darrel believes public support for this idea is strong and he will sponsor it in the Senate.

Promote New York products: There are several ways to promote products made by New York companies. One way is to inform consumers about which products are made locally. Darrel authored a bill in the Assembly that would require country of origin labeling on food products (A1999, 2007). Another way to promote New York products is to ask companies that receive grants from New York to first consider New York-based companies as primary suppliers.

Legislation that did just that with University-related economic development programs (A389, 2007) passed the Assembly last year but died in the Senate. The COOL bill faced the same fate, passing in the Assembly only to stall in the Senate. As Senator, Darrel will work to make sure both bills become law.

If these unions that are involved with Bruno had a clear conscience, they could see the easy choice for who will protect upstate NY's economy. Of course they aren't, and are desperately trying to hold Bruno in his position to keep whatever deals that have going on indefinitely. Woe is Albany....time for a change!

Fox News' Shep Smith Gets Nasty When His Network Gets Called Out

Check out this exchange:



Shephard cut her off at the end, but if you didn't quite hear it, Naomi mentioned that 18yr olds are still someone's babies. Smith may not think so, but try getting a mother of a teenager to agree with him....not gonna happen.

Bush: We Must Keep White House To Prevent Peace And Prosperity

Yesterday when Romney dropped out he claimed it was to prevent the surrender to terror that the Democratic party would allow. Today President Bush will go even farther, claiming that "Prosperity and peace are in the balance, so with confidence in our vision and faith in our values, let us go forward ... fight for victory ... and keep the White House in 2008." I'm not quite sure what he meant by that, but it sure sounded like he's anti-peace and and anti-prosperity.

Outside of George Bush's bubble there is no peace for America, as dozens of soldiers die needlessly every month in Iraq. The death and destruction that we helped bring over there is far greater to the innocents. Bush currently threatens war with Iran and nothing is going well over in Afghanistan. He knows peace hangs in the balance, so we must stay at war and a Republican in office will ensure that.

The issue of prosperity is a little trickier. Perhaps he meant to keep up the prosperity for an extremely small amount of wealthy people in America. There is no way he was referring to the rest of us, the economic conditions are going down the crapper faster than.....eh, nevermind. So as our nation heads closer and closer to a recession while the war saps our treasury, remember that George Bush wants us to keep conditions for peace and prosperity as they are.

So if you think our nation is acting peacefully and Americans are by and large prosperous, then go ahead and vote GOP in November. If you happen to live in reality, well then you have your choices. Do you want more of the same that we got in the last eight years, or a chance for change.

Donna Karen Gets Her Just Reward

In a uncouth and ridiculous manner, DKNY sought to promote their brand for the much-hyped (in NYC) fashion week by placing neon orange bikes around the city. At first they looked like a smart way for people to lock up their bikes so as to not get stolen (at least during the day). Then the news came that it was marketing technique. As odd as that is, DKNY is shown to be completely tasteless when you compare them to the Ghost Bike campaign, an organization that memorializes those that lost their lives while riding.

By illegally chaining some of these orange bikes to city property, not only do they get hauled away by NYC, but it also increases the chances that NYC will crack down on Ghost Bikes as well. So what did DKNY have to say for themselves?

From The Gothamist:

Curious about the fate of all those orange bikes with the DKNY website that were locked up around town? The ones the police didn’t cart away (some were illegally chained to trees) are being picked clean for spare parts. The tone deaf Fashion Week publicity stunt was presented by DKNY as an effort to promote cycling in New York, and the company did help raise awareness by, uh, distributing bicycle maps in their stores. Oh, and their website for the campaign has a photo of models riding a bike, though they’re too cool for helmets, of course.

The neon orange DKNY bikes drew heat from cyclists because the aesthetic is all-too-similar to the nationwide “Ghost Bike” campaign, which memorializes killed cyclists by locking an all-white bicycle near the scene of the accident. In an email sent out earlier, a DKNY rep wrote “we are very sorry if our well-intentioned ‘Explore Your City’ program offended anyone.” That's touching, but 'sorry' doesn't get these eyesores off the sidewalks.

DKNY has not responded to our questions about when the bikes will be removed, but it seems others are doing the job one piece at a time.

Who's Maverick Is McCain?

Here are just a few of the Senator's fans:



Of course they fail to say exactly how he can claim this status, the answer to that is anyone' guess.

Lieberman Gets Stripped

Finally the Democratic establishment mustered the stones to strip Lieberman of his super delegate status in Connecticut. This two-bit traitor has been nothing but a farce for several years now and this is a good first step in extricating him from the Democratic party. It is great to see the shearing of his sheep costume begin.

From The Hartford Courant:

Thanks to Zell Miller, there is a rule to deal with Joe Lieberman.

Lieberman's endorsement of Republican John McCain disqualifies him as a super-delegate to the Democratic National Convention under what is informally known as the Zell Miller rule, according to Democratic State Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo.

Miller, then a Democratic senator from Georgia, not only endorsed Republican George Bush four years ago, but he delivered a vitriolic attack on Democrat John Kerry at the Republican National Convention.

The Democrats responded with a rule disqualifying any Democrat who crosses the aisle from being a super delegate. Lieberman will not be replaced, DiNardo said.

I wonder if Harry Reid is reading this same article, because it should give him some clue on what to do with Lieberman the Senator. Lieberman may caucus officially with the Democratic party, but he by no means votes as a Democrat. I know that Reid claims to keep him on to retain the razor thin majority we have in the Senate. Nonetheless if he doesn't vote with the caucus or the will of the people of Connecticut, then he has no business being allowed to have committee assignments. Memo to Reid, finish the stripping of Holy Joe and banish him to Indy land or the Republican dominion if he so wishes, but just get him outta there now.

Forty Million For Nothing

To the astonishment of many, Mitt Romney effectively dropped out of the race today, suspending his candidacy in front of an audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference. He will hold onto his delegates, but no longer will he actively seek more. The statistical probability of him beating McCain is slim to none and for quite sometime now he has simply been spending throwing burning money at an alter to himself and for some conservatives, the anti-McCain candidacy. He leaves Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee to withstand the Maverick schmuck from Arizona further into the primary season.

And of course, he didn't go without a parting shot at Democrats, as ridiculous as it was:

"I must now stand aside, for our party and our country," Romney said. "If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win."

"And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror," he said.

"This is not an easy decision for me," Romney added. " I hate to lose. My family, my friends and our supporters... many of you right here in this room... have given a great deal to get me where I have a shot at becoming President. If this were only about me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America."

Well I guess liberals don't love America, do we Mr. Romney? One thing is for sure, we love America even more now that you are gone and out of the race, diminishing the slight chance you had to continue the destruction of the Constitution by winning the race (which was highly un-probable from the get go.

At least we'll have one less voice spouting the GOP crap that they love using to bash liberal Americans. Too bad for Mittens it cost him $40 million out of his own pocket for all of that nonsense.

Where In The World Is Osama?

Morgan Spurlock, of "Super Size Me" fame is back again, trying to tackle the feat of capturing Osama bin Laden. Since Bush doesn't really spend anytime thinking about him anymore, at least a filmmaker can give it a try.

1199/SEIU Still Kissing Bruno's Behind

Albany is certainly a funny place. Standard thinking, conventional wisdom, whatever you want to call it, says that unions stick with Democrats by and large because....well simply Democrats have been better friends to unions historically speaking (currently too). Unfortunately since the 1199/S.E.I.U. sees Joe Bruno as some sort of savior, they are backing his quest to keep control of the state Senate and endorse Will Barclay over the Democratic challenger Darrel Aubertine.

From The Daily Politics:

The health care union SEIU/1199 has again demonstrated its loyalty to Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and his GOP conference by announcing its endorsement of Republican Assemblyman Will Barclay in the 48th SD special election.

"Throughout his more than five years in the Assembly, Will Barclay has been a tireless advocate for the issues that upstate New Yorkers deeply care about – protecting quality healthcare and rebuilding the upstate economy,” said SEIU/1199 President George Gresham.

“1199 caregivers are proud to endorse Will Barclay and we’re confident that he’ll be an excellent addition to a Senate Majority that has consistently protected access to affordable quality healthcare for all New Yorkers.”

SEIU/1199 has long been a Bruno ally, contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the senator himself, as well as his fellow Republicans, and the majority's campaign committees.

Not only is health care screwed up in general, but the local union is as well, supporting a candidate that is no good for unions and certainly not New York as a whole. Can anyone tell me why a union would support a union-buster?

Anyone, Bueller? Bueller?!?

McCain's Problem Is Great News For America

While the Democratic primary shows a nearly deadlocked battle between Hillary and Barack, the media narrative of Democrats being split amongst themselves while the Republicans are cohesive is long gone. It is true that McCain will almost certainly be the nominee as it stands now and the Democrats race is still up in the air, but the delegate numbers only reflects the surface of the issue. McCain's problem is far more complex.

From ABC News:

In his path toward the Republican nomination, McCain has been continually hammered by conservatives including influential talk show host Rush Limbaugh, commentator and author Ann Coulter, and James Dobson, the evangelical Christian founder of Focus on the Family.

"For all intents and purposes, McCain is the Republican nominee," a defeated Limbaugh said on his radio show today. Limbaugh suggested McCain will march Republicans to defeat in November unless he picks former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, who did well among Christian evangelicals last night, as his running mate.

"Here's the thing about McCain: he can't win conservatives in the South by virtue of this primary yesterday," Limbaugh said. "These blue states that McCain won last night are places where he has no chance in November."

Coulter has suggested she will vote for Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., if McCain becomes the nominee, arguing that Clinton has a more conservative record.

Dobson released a statement to "The Laura Ingraham Show" Tuesday announcing that he would refuse to vote in November if McCain is the nominee.

"I am convinced Sen. McCain is not a conservative, and in fact, has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are," Dobson wrote. "A spoonful of sugar does NOT make the medicine go down. I cannot, and will not, vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience."

The news that Dobson has a conscience is more shocking than anything else, but more importantly McCain is going to suffer in terms of voter turnout come November. Now while not all Republicans heed the messages of Coulter and Dobson, they do represent a percentage of the party that will not vote for McCain in the numbers that he needs. That is especially so when you look at how energetic Democratic primary voters have been compared to Republicans. So McCain's problem is certainly good news to either Clinton or Obama, but most definitely for the Democratic party as a whole.

Stewart Does It Again...This Time To Chris Wallace

Don't these right-wing Fox News hacks understand they are no match for the likes of Jon Stewart?



Guess not.

Who Are These Super Delegates And Where Did They Come From?

We are now one day removed from the meleé of Super Tuesday and we find ourselves with a pretty solid number for who has how many delegates. Currently Barack Obama leads Hillary Clinton by five pledged delegates (635 to 630) but Hillary leads by 82 overall with super delegates.

The question of where they came from was a quick topic at my Democracy for New York City meeting tonight in the West Village, unfortunately most of the two hours I spent there felt like being in a perverted debate on the set of Hannity and Colmes. Basically the candidate diary wars of DailyKos occur just as much if not more so and more heated (at least you can't raise your voice on the Internet, and no, spelling things out in CAPS doesn't count). So as I left there as people started screaming and the rate of punditry per minute exceeded my limit for what are usually quiet and productive gatherings, I continued my thought about the super delegates and this is what I found.

From The Nation:

By 1980 the party establishment had seen enough. It struck back with a commission of its own, led by North Carolina Governor James Hunt. It returned power to elected officials and party regulars--the superdelegates, who will make up about 20 percent of the 4,049 delegates at the Democratic convention. They include all Democratic members of Congress and every governor, but roughly half of them are Democratic National Committee officials elected by state parties, who range from top party operatives to local city council members. Key interests in the party, like labor groups, can also name superdelegates. According to political scientist Rhodes Cook, superdelegates were created as a "firewall to blunt any party outsider that built up a head of steam in the primaries."

That's what happened in 1984, when Senator Gary Hart launched an insurgent challenge to front-runner Walter Mondale. Hart won sixteen state primaries and caucuses to Mondale's ten, and barely lost the popular vote. Yet Mondale locked up virtually all the party's 700 or so superdelegates even before the primary began. Hart likely would have lost anyway, but the superdelegates sealed his defeat. "I got almost none of them, because [Mondale] was considered inevitable," Hart told me.

What happened to Gary Hart was a true tragedy, the Democratic Party was as undemocratic as it could be. So now lets fast-forward to 2008 and here we have a close contest between the establishment candidate and the relative outsider. Now Howard Dean announced last night that he does not want to see a brokered convention, and that an agreement should be made after the voters are done deciding delegates in June. This would be a bad thing if the undemocratic super-delegates were considered part of the process, but then again, they'll have the same influence during the convention in August. And do you know what type of effect they'll make on the outcome?

The obvious beneficiary of the superdelegates this time around is another establishment favorite, Hillary Clinton. Before Super Tuesday, Obama had sixty-three pledged delegates, compared with Clinton's forty-eight. But as we went to press Clinton had a huge advantage in superdelegates, 184 to ninety-five, according to CNN. "Many of the superdelegates were in and out of the Clinton White House, invited to dinners, have received contributions from Clinton allies," says Hart, who has endorsed Obama. "There will be pressure brought to bear to cash in those chips."

Clinton has a wealth of contacts to tap, in the party and in her campaign. There's the former President himself, of course, and Clinton's campaign chair, Terry McAuliffe, who ran the DNC from 2001 to 2005, and a top Clinton surrogate, Harold Ickes, who serves on the DNC's influential rules committee. The Clintons are working hard to bring the large bloc of uncommitted superdelegates into the senator's camp. "I know Hillary is calling superdelegates regularly, which is a smart play," says Art Torres, California Democratic Party chair. Interviews with superdelegates in Alabama, California, Colorado and Massachusetts--a random sample of February 5 states--illustrate this close attention. After Ramona Martinez, a Denver city councilwoman, switched her support from Bill Richardson to Clinton, she received immediate thank-you calls from McAuliffe and Clinton adviser Ann Lewis. In Alabama "Hillary would get the majority of the superdelegates," predicts state party chair Joe Turnham. "A lot of it is longstanding relationships. People go back to the 1980s with Bill Clinton, when he first came to Alabama."

So even in Alabama, a state Barack carried, the super delegates could conceivably cast their vote for Hillary. Is this a system you endorse? I definitely disagree with this crap. It was devised by the establishment to protect them against the likes of Jimmy Carter and George McGovern and help people like Walter Mondale (guess who he's endorsing this year).

Dean has to know that if Clinton wins this year, his time at the DNC is up. If he wants to do anything and get away with dignity, it would be to abolish the system of super delegates. It wouldn't happen this year, but it needs to end as soon as possible. We are the Democratic Party and supposedly we are the people's party....so let the people decide who the nominee is and then the idea of a brokered convention decided by ex-Presidents, City Councilors and party favorites would be a thing of the past.

The Five Million Dollar Mistake

The big news on Super Wednesday is that Hillary (and/or/but not Bill, their assets are combined right?) loaned her campaign $5,000,000 cash late last month. She took in an impressive $13.5 million in January but it is nowhere near what Obama raised, averaging better than a million a day. Now that she's won a few big states yesterday the spigots are opening up for her again, but will it be enough to compete....and what does this news say about her campaign?

From TPM:

This morning, Mark Halperin floated an intriguing question: Are the Clintons financing Hillary's campaign with their own money?

Now the Clinton campaign has finally answered: Yes, they are. Hillary spokesperson Howard Wolfson sends over the following:

Late last month Senator Clinton loaned her campaign $5 million.The loan illustrates Sen. Clinton’s commitment to this effort and to ensuring that our campaign has the resources it needs to compete and win across this nation. We have had one of our best fundraising efforts ever on the web today and our Super Tuesday victories will only help in bringing more support for her candidacy.

The revelation suggests another emerging dynamic in the race: Now that the campaigns are committed to grinding it out for weeks and weeks, perhaps all the way until the convention. The Hillary camp faces the prospect of being dramatically outspent by the Obama campaign, which has enjoyed huge fundraising success.

It sounds Romney-esque to me that she needs to float a huge sum of cash like this, though she is nothing like Romney in that she is a competitive candidate. Nevertheless, I thought that Democrats should be looking for a people-powered candidate instead of one that needs to (partly) finance their campaign.

Oh I'm Sorry, Did You Not Want To Pay For This?

Oops!

Investigate George Bush, Not The NFL

Investigating high crimes and misdemeanors would seem like serious business with all of the serious charges and subsequent proof of them by our President. Instead of preserving our Constitution Arlen Specter is more focused on the NFL and in particular the New England Patriots for a "SpyGate" scandal. Why would he do this? Well when it comes to the old way of doing business in Washington, its all about the money.

From Attytood:

When Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter went more public last week with his increasingly strange and quixotic battle against the National Football League -- supposedly over the New England "Spygate" scandal -- some politically savvy wags raised an interesting point.

They noted that the longtime GOP stalwart's No. 2 source of campaign funds in recent years has been none other than employees of Comcast Corp. and their families, linked to at least $153,600 in donations going back to 1989. That's significant because Philadelphia-based Comcast has been engaged in a protracted war with the NFL over an issue that has nothing to do with New England and spying but is worth millions of dollars: Whether the cable giant can and should charge its consumers extra money to view the NFL Network.

Good find, but if you dig a little deeper...it's even worse than that.

Look again at the list, and see who Specter's No. 1 source of campaign contributions has been -- by far. That would the law firm -- also based here in Philly but with a large D.C. presence -- of Blank Rome LLC, now a growing lobbying powerhouse. Since 1989, partner and employees and family members from Blank Rome have donated $358, 483 to Specter's political kitty, dwarfing all others.

Hmm, now isn't that interesting?

Really it isn't, it is more of the same by the corruptive influences in Washington. Why people like Arlen get the respect they do is dumbfounding. So what if he is a Senator, serving in office for many years and getting re-elected over and over again. The thing is, he is not serving his constituents, just the ones that fork over barrels of money for his campaign. We need more of the opposite, the ones that value principles over the ones that want to stay in office for the sake of staying in office.

Hugs, Not Votes

I got an email this morning from Howard Dean (as did many others subscribed to Democrats.org) reminding us about the big picture, and it can not be stressed enough. Either Hillary or Barack will face McCain this come November, barring some sort of miracle. You know that the Republicans are gearing up to attack one of our candidates so it is best to be prepared.

From Howard Dean:

Dear Josh, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney are done. John McCain will be the Republican nominee -- he's the only one with a reasonable path to the nomination. So how do we beat him? We stand up -- right now -- start fighting, and show the American people that he's not who they think he is.

John McCain is a media darling, but don't trust his carefully-crafted image - he's worked for years to brand himself. From Iraq to health care, Social Security to special interest tax cuts to ethics, he's promising nothing more than a third Bush term.

After championing campaign finance reform and ethics legislation to score political points, he now has a staggering amount of lobbyists involved in every aspect of his campaign. In fact, two of the top three sources for John McCain's campaign cash are D.C. lobbying firms, and he looked the other way as Jack Abramoff bought and paid for the Republican Party and the Culture of Corruption.

On immigration reform, he's run as far to the right as he can, aligning himself with the most extreme elements of the Republican Party.

On the war, McCain scoffed at Bush's call to leave troops in Iraq for 50 years, saying "Make it a hundred!"

On a woman's right to choose, McCain has vowed to appoint judges who would overturn Roe v. Wade.

On the economy, one of the issues that the American people care most about, McCain has said: "I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated."

We can't afford four more years with a President who drives the economy into the ground. We can't afford four more years with a President who fights an endless war in Iraq. We can't afford four more years with a President who gives tax cuts to companies who ship jobs overseas; with a President who can't get every American the health care they deserve; with a President we just can't trust.

Now of course that email was about fundraising for the DNC, but it is still an important message....and important to give to the DNC if you can. Every one of those points must be made again and again to Americans that will decide if there is a President Obama/Clinton or a President McCain.

As many national elections experts can tell you, going into a race you have approximately 40 percent of the people locked into the (D) candidate and about the same for the (R) candidate. The trick is to get as many of the rest as possible. So while we make our case to the undecideds about how America needs to go down a new path and choose the Democratic nominee, I'd like to add something to the mix. I suggest the we give McCain a hug.

Hugs are great things between two human beings. Showing compassion and being there for one another is an important human interaction. Of course it is not the same as voting for someone to lead the nation, so I think giving McCain a hug would be a good thing, and maybe with enough of them he'll see the error of his ways (see Dean's email above for some specifics). I'm not counting on that, but since McCain is such a good hugger anyways, why not give it a try.

There Is A Better Way To Spend $720 Million A Day

Imagine the possibilities......



And remember the candidates that are promising one hundred years in Iraq if thats what it takes, what the objective is......nobody knows.

Go Romney Go!

One nice thing to see as the dust settles after yesterday is that Mitt Romney is still in the race. Although many pundits are making McCain to be the inevitable Romney refuses to quit and by default, neither does his money. Sure, McCain is leading in delegates by a wide margin and will probably wrap up the nomination in the not so distant future. Yet this is still good news for the Democratic nominee, whoever that may be.

From RawStory:

After being declared the winner in most northeastern states, and California, John McCain officially declared himself the Republican Party's front-runner. But in spite of some electoral setbacks, Mitt Romney promised to carry on until the summer's Republican National Convention.[...]

Romney was declared the winner in Utah by a domineering super-majority, and also won contests in North Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, and Colorado. He pledged to his supporters that he'd go all the way to the convention.

"[Romney's Wife] Anne came to me and she said, 'The one thing that's clear tonight is nothing is clear,' but I think she's wrong," he declared. "The one thing that's clear is that this campaign is going on."

And on it goes....

Keep spending that money Mitt. Your negative ads against McCain are "brilliant, simply brilliant."

Another Big Win For Democrats Last Night

Now that we can tack on twenty-two states to the six that have voted already, it is becoming clear who is winning this race. Obama and Clinton may be fighting it out and so is Romney and McCain (not so much though) for their respective nominations, but when it comes to seeing which party is fired up, this isn't even close. People are turning up in record numbers to vote for either Clinton or Obama (and welcome my sister to the voting process as well who turned 18 last year). It has been a tremendous turnout and you can see it in places that no one could have imagined.

From The Birmingham News:

Shelby County poll workers say they are surprised by the number of Democratic ballots being cast in the state's most Republican county.[...]

At Siluria Baptist Church in Alabaster, 672 people had voted by 2:30, a turnout that poll inspector Rebecca Kent said was higher than usual. There, 188 voters chose Democratic ballots.

Siluria Baptist election official Judy Acker said it was usually much more heavily Republican.

How much more Republican? Shelby County voted for Bush four years ago by a margin of 81-19. How about them apples, eh.

Putting one county aside however, the victory really is in the big picture. People turned out in record numbers from the American Samoa to Massachusetts to vote for a Democratic candidate. Now I'm not saying this is comparable to voting in the primary of a Congressional seat in Brooklyn where you know that primary day is the only decision day that counts. Yet the enthusiasm shown by Democratic voters is truly inspiring.

What Would You Do To Protect Bill O'Reilly?

For me, I already know my answer....nothing. When you are John McCain and pandering for conservative voted prior to Super Tuesday, you might just say anything, even denying the reality for 200,000 of your fellow veterans that happen to be homeless.



Despite our differences in the Democratic primary, this is what we must keep in mind and remember the big picture.

It's Not Over Till Its Over

Growing up as a kid I was told many times by my parents and some coaches that nothing is over till its over. As a kid in Los Angeles, that helped tremendously, and was especially true when I watched Kirk Gibson hit that homerun in Game 1 of the World Series. Of course that was then and this is now. Tonight I went out to the Meadowlands, and and after a tough fight through most of the game, the Lakers put on the pressure and beat the Nets by 15 points. I left to come back home across (technically going under) the river with my Treo in hand.

Of course I had my Treo out all night, checking it out during time outs and in between quarters. I 'watched' Obama hold Connecticut steadily through the evening and crush Hillary in Alabama and Georgia. I knew Hillary would win big in my own state and down in Oklahoma. And of course the home states of Arkansas and Illinois were headed their respective ways. Then there were places like Missouri, where the networks called the race for Hillary and just now Obama surged ahead at the last moments.

There's no way I'll stay up to watch of all the returns come in, I could stay up till 2 or 3 in the morning but 12:30 is about where I will crash. Tomorrow morning I'll wake up, read the rest of the results and then see where the campaigns go on Super Tuesday +1. One thing is for sure at the moment, Obama did pretty damn well tonight...and he didn't need to win overall today, so the fact that this whole thing is so close is good news for Obama.

Nevertheless, it's not over till its over...despite any spin you might hear in the next 24 hours.

A Victory We Can All Cheer For Today

Today is full of friction as Obama and Clinton supporters go at it on the left, and the Republicans are doing the same schtick (with more gusto of course) on the right. Yet one thing we all can be happy about (or at least those of us on the left and all that care about treating animals in the sea with respect is a victory won against the Bush Administration and the Navy in the courts today.

From Yahoo News:

U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled Monday that the Navy is not exempt from complying with both the National Environmental Policy Act and a court injunction that created a 12 nautical-mile no-sonar zone off Southern California.

"It's an excellent decision," said Joel Reynolds, attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, which is spearheading the legal fight. "It reinstates the proper balance between national security and environmental protection."

Scientists have said loud sonar can damage the brains and ears of marine mammals, and may mask the echoes from natural sonar that some whales and dolphins use to locate food.

The president signed a waiver Jan. 15 exempting the Navy and its anti-submarine warfare exercises from the injunction, arguing they are vital to the nation's national security.

The White House objected to Judge Cooper's decision, but who knows how far they'll go to make sure that the brains of whales are damaged. So does George Bush hate whales and dolphins? Why would he do such a thing? Well it may not be so much about the marine life, but about his power...and the quest to rule absolutely for as long as possible. He'd rather make decisions affecting the environment instead of environmentalists from having a say. Now that would be unconscionable.

It's Been Five Years

Just imagine if Powell didn't mislead us.......

Obama Wins!....Indonesia

Sorry Obamamaniacs, its just a small group of ex-patriate Americans living in or near Jakarta, Indonesia. These approximately one hundred voters cast their ballots yesterday and an overwhelming seventy-five percent went to Barack. Of course Barack spent some time there as a kid when his mother was studying for her Ph D. in Jakarta, while going back and forth to his grandparents house in Oahu.

I guess it is nice to see an early win, but its nothing to what the results may or may not bring starting in a few hours from now. Indonesia represents only a fraction of the six million eligible voters that live outside the country and in all, Democrats Abroad sends 22 delegates to the convention, or about a little over one percent of what is need to obtain the nomination.

Now back to those on the mainland, make sure you vote and have your voice heard, with a close race in at least a few of the states up for grabs today, that one vote may count more than you know.

You Think Our Health Care System Is Bad Now?

Just wait till until you read the figures from Bush's budget request. According to him, the private health care industry doesn't suck enough money and life out of us, so George wants to pull more money out of the budget for health care in America. Despite proposing the highest budget ever at $3.1 trillion (with a T) dollars, the CDC, Medicare and Medicaid are looking at cuts in the billions of dollars, even though they are already seriously underfunded.

From Reuters:

Bush's $3.1 trillion spending plan proposes a 7 percent cut in funds for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as less money for Medicare and Medicaid -- the joint federal-state health insurance programs for the poor and elderly.

The budget for the fiscal year starting October 1, 2009 would reduce spending on Medicare by $12.8 billion and lower federal funds for Medicaid by $18.2 billion over five years.

The National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration would receive more funds, but critics said the increases were too small to counteract rising costs.

And on top of that, even some private companies are concerned because many drug treatments come from government-funded research. A breeding farm of sorts provided by Uncle Sam is used by the for-profits to lure these successful scientists out to the private sector.

More importantly, Americans across the board will suffer from these cuts, something Congress MUST stand up against and prevent, for the good of the people. This budget fight will show who's side they're on.

Let The Interviews Begin

It's a busy day today and the candidates are up early and raring to go this morning. Here's Barack on Scarborough a few hours ago.



Meanwhile here at the N.Y.P.I.R.G. office, I'm trying to help voters who call the hotline, but I'm in a race against several people to pick up the phone when it rings....finally, a true horserace :-)

Got Any Plans Today?

I don't know about any of you, but today is definitely a busy day here in New York City. A little on my schedule today.....going to vote this morning before heading down to the N.Y.P.I.R.G. office to go help out on the Voter Help Line for a couple hours while my day isn't too busy. I'll be helping out with info like this and much more, so if you are (godforbid) having trouble voting from 9-11am in NYC, you might just get to talk to me.

Once I step outside of their office, which just so happens to be 2mins from City Hall, I'll find myself standing in a ticker tape parade, the first one to hit NYC in several years. The Giants definitely have a lot to celebrate after their spectacular win over the Patriots. There is nothing like a great victory for the underdog...whether it is in sports or politics. Plenty of New Yorkers will be doing some combination of work, sports and politics today.

Once I get the work out of my way this afternoon, I'll meet my girlfriend at the Port Authority at 6pm and then its off to the Meadowlands to watch my (former home) team Lakers wipe the floor with the New Jersey Nets out at whatever corporation owns the Arena (I know the company but refuse to address them). And of course, like the true political junkie that I am, I'll be constantly checking my Treo for election returns as they come in....though I'll try not to look unless there's a timeout or its halftime. Thats the goal at least.

Definitely a full and exciting day, what's on tap for you? Is anyone voting out there?

Have You Seen This Story

It amazes me with all the possible sources of news that we have on network TV, cable news and the (shrinking) assortment of magazines and newspapers that some of the most important stories of our day go unreported. Instead of hard hitting news, we get garbage about Britney Spears and other celebrities that mean nothing to us in our daily lives. This gossip and idolatry of famous people is one of many distractions that keep us from finding truths in our world and ultimately the ability to do something about it.

From The Daily Snack:

BRITISH soldiers have been accused of torturing 22 Iraqi citizens to death. They are also said to have abused nine others held in their custody. The allegations of brutality, dating back to 2004, can now be made public after a gagging order was lifted by a High Court judge yesterday. The order had prevented any details of the alleged torture being reported by the Press or broadcast media. It is alleged the abuse happened after British troops were ambushed on the road from Amara to Basra. Following a firefight, a 31-strong band of Iraqis are said to have been seized by soldiers and taken into custody. They were held at British headquarters in Abu-Naji in south-east Iraq. Out of the 31 people detained only nine survived and they claim they were subjected to torture. Iraqi death certificates are said to state that the corpses of the Iraqis who were rounded up showed signs of "mutilation" and "torture".

Have you heard about this story? This is huge and goes to show the culture of war and how destructive it is. Not only are we not winning hearts and minds, we are destroying them and creating hate within those that survive. Yet the public has no idea that this goes on and they go on about their own life being completely clueless as to what their government does in their names. If only the news covered news and not gossip and forget the "if it bleeds it leads" on the local news, citizens would become more informed about their locality and their world.

Sigh. When will it end....when will it change.

Oh No Here We Go Again

Of course this could just be incidental and completely random, but why is this the second time we find Hillary's tears in the press....the day before a major election?

Just How "Independent" Was That 9/11 Commission?

After the shock began to subside after the devastating attack on the World Trade Center, the nation began to clamor for an independent investigation into what went wrong on September 11th. At first the Bush Administration fought against having a task force outside the White House conduct an investigation, but public pressure was just too great. Nonetheless, Bush and his cronies managed to stymie efforts to find out all of the facts that commission members wanted to know.

From RawStory:

Two recent segments delve into a new book that accuses the head of the ostensibly independent 9/11 Commission, Philip Zelikow, of being beholden to the Bush Administration during his tenure.

The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation, by New York Times reporter Philip Shenon, indicts Zelikow on his ties with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and his frequent contact with senior political adviser Karl Rove, during what was touted as an independent investigation into the events surrounding the 2001 World Trade Center attack. This seeming conflict of interest, the book says, led Commission staffers not to trust Zelikow.

"We found him to be very fair-minded," counters co-chair Lee Hamilton, "quite impartial, very rigorous in his searching out of the facts; and he certainly did not try to protect the Bush Administration, or to protect anybody else."

9/11 Commission member John Lehman goes on to tell MSNBC that it was impossible not to go through Karl Rove when documents such as presidential daily briefings were needed. Many Commission members, he says, pressed the White House to provide more information and lift restrictions on a regular basis.

Lehman and Hamilton's support of Zelikow definitely helps his case, but the fact that many more people in the Commission had trouble with him is disconcerting. The question is...is this book coming out tomorrow a important addition to the discussion of the responsibility of the Bush Administration in 9/11 or simply a red herring?

FBI Is Still After Bruno

I've heard here and there that the FBI probe into State Senate Leader Joseph Bruno was going nowhere, a dead end that was only used by NY Democrats to put a negative light on him. Of course most of those voices came from Bruno's camp and this was shown to be true after the FBI issued new subpoenas last week for Bruno and his business associates. It is too bad it took a newspaper publication to kick the FBI back into gear, but at least the information spurred something good.

From The New York Times:

The subpoenas, which were issued last week and seek records related to Wright and Mr. Bruno, were reported Sunday in The Times Union of Albany. It is the first indication in several months that the roughly two-year-old federal investigation into Mr. Bruno’s outside business interests remains active.

It is not clear how many of the union locals have been subpoenaed.

Mike Roberts, who recently became head of an Albany-area branch of Unite Here, a union of hotel and restaurant workers, said his local had been subpoenaed. “We’re just obviously perusing the documents and cooperating,” he said.

The Times Union reported that James E. Long, a lawyer for Laborers’ Local 190 in Albany, said the local had been subpoenaed Wednesday. Another lawyer in Mr. Long’s office said on Sunday that Mr. Long would not comment further.

John McArdle, a spokesman for Mr. Bruno, said: “We’ve cooperated with the inquiry. He’s not been accused of anything, and I think that’s all we’re saying.”

Gee thanks John, thanks for sharing with us what your official spin line is. If you'd like to answer why Bruno is at the center of an FBI investigation, then by all means tell us something new. Whether you want to admit it or not, it is certainly peculiar that unions that did more business with Wright Investors Service' due to Bruno being there. The FBI had Bruno's home business to investigate and now there's just a little bit more.

This Is Beyond Wrong

Our police system in this country is seriously messed up. Situations like Hope Steffey's should never, ever occur......ever.

Creating Lakes In Baghdad, Now Thats Real Progress

The city of Baghdad is in the desert. Of course it is in between two rivers that create an incredible fertile plain but still, its a hot place and people need to be able to cool off and relax by large bodies of water. Its a required thing to do if you're from Texas, so why not send some American ideals over to Iraq, eh? So what kind of lake should we help build? For boating, fishing, kayaking, or ........

From National Nine News:

Baghdad is drowning in sewage, thirsty for water and largely powerless, an Iraqi official said in a grim assessment of services in the capital five years after the US-led invasion.

One of three sewage treatment plants is out of commission, one is working at stuttering capacity while a pipe blockage in the third means sewage is forming a foul lake so large it can be seen "as a big black spot on Google Earth," said Tahseen Sheikhly, civilian spokesman for the Baghdad security plan.

Sheikhly told a news conference in the capital that water pipes, where they exist, are so old that it is not possible to pump water at a sufficient rate to meet demands -- leaving many neighbourhoods parched.

Now thats progress, or at least to George Bush it is. He loves lakes, being the Texan that he is. Maybe he should go over and take a nice long swim.

There Is Nothing To Miss About Rudy Giuliani

Obviously the progressive blogosphere and Chris Smith of the New York Magazine feel similarly about Rudy, we're all thankful he's gone. That "scary dream" as he puts it is over and for me personally is a huge relief when I look ahead for the future of our country. A Giuliani Presidency would have been the worst possible outcome of this election. Unfortunately Chris tries to spin it just a little by saying that his candidacy lost steam not because of his atrocious record and many, many deviances, but because people are more focused on domestic issues than the war (a 9/11 thing I'm assuming). Yet somehow due to his exit we won't talk about domestic issues that relate to big cities....cuz Rudy was Mayor of New York...or something like that.

From The New York Magazine:

By no means am I wishing that the carnage in Iraq had continued at the devastating levels of, say, 2006. Nor do I miss the ratcheting up of Homeland Security’s threat levels. But as Wall Street has staggered and we’ve become domestically obsessed again, the shift in anxieties has allowed the candidates to dodge any serious grappling with the long-term consequences of the war, everything from how to end it to what to do about Guantánamo and Pakistan to what incursions on civil liberties are tolerable in the name of self-defense. The United States does have real enemies. Opportunistic and self-aggrandizing his entry into the campaign may have been, but Giuliani’s run was also motivated by a sincere sense of patriotism and pain forged at the World Trade Center, and by a genuine desire to protect his people. His “stay on offense” theory of anti-terrorism was simplistic, but his presence in the race had the valuable effect of pushing the conversation a little bit more toward foreign policy.

The fact that a former resident of Gracie Mansion was a real contender for president was equally important. Eighty percent of the nation’s population now lives in urban areas. Yet the senators and governor still standing only give lip service to the problems in public education, housing, transit, poverty, and crime that touch millions of city lives every day. John Edwards did more to address those issues on the campaign trail than Giuliani did, but having a former mayor of the country’s biggest, most complicated city in the presidential race injected some non-Washington grit into the mix. That’s gone now, and it’s a loss for New York. And it’s just about the only reason to regret that we won’t have Rudy Giuliani to kick around anymore.

Yes, it was (and in my opinion only) John Edwards that addressed urban problems in the best possible manner. Yet by no means did Rudy Giuliani help to inject any kind of debate on how to fix our cities. Remember, Rudy said he fixed New York single-handedly. Urban blight was magically solved by kicking poor people out of Manhattan, those that didn't make $100,000 a year or more (much more) magically disappeared when you would ask Rudy about it.

The only good thing about having him in the race was to kick him around, but the kicking was done for a reason...to kick him out so we wouldn't have to see that obnoxious smug look on his face. Furthermore, New York does not lose (unless you mean the NY GOP's chances of holding on to the Senate this year), New York actually wins because by and large, we were right about him all along and then the states that voted before us caught on and left him standing high and dry.

A Super Tuesday Ad

The ads that were on yesterday for the Super Bowl were funny...and now I know to drink Coke, Pepsi and beer...thanks Madison Avenue. Now I want to know where to get my election day coverage tomorrow...and I've got it:

White Women Are The Problem, Says The Great Kristol

The Great Kristol, or as he is more popularly known as William "The Bloody" was hired by the New York Times because he is a serious, respected conservative intellectual. Of course the Times' Andy Rosenthal, who hired him made that lame excuse, but now the paper and him are paying for it. The man is wrong about everything, and on top of that he's a chauvinistic pig. You want to know what he said yesterday, straight from the mouth of Mr. Serious and Respected?

From Media Matters:

From the February 3 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday:

BILL KRISTOL: Look, the only people for Hillary Clinton are the Democratic establishment and white women. The Democratic establishment -- it would be crazy for the Democratic Party to follow an establishment that's led it to defeat year after year. White women are a problem, that's, you know -- we all live with that.

[laughter]

JUAN WILLIAMS (National Public Radio correspondent and Fox News contributor): Not me!

HUME: Bill, for the record, I like white women.

KRISTOL: I know, I shouldn't have said that.

Um, then why say it Bill? You do know that you are on national television, right? Of course he is just "apologizing" so that he can excuse his behavior. Yet the laughter says it all. Kristol is a backwards buffoon that is allowed on the airwaves (and unfortunately the pages of the New York Times) again and again, despite being a complete idiot with nothing of value to add to a debate....unless you consider a lust for war and to be consistently wrong an asset.

The Three Trillion Dollar Road To Hell

When I was a kid and introduced to the Wizard of Oz, the yellow brick road amused me to no end....when I was four. Now George Bush literally wants to pave our way into the depths of perdition by wasting our resources, our military and domestic programs that help make us strong. For the first time ever, the requested national budget from the President is over three trillion dollars.

From RawStory:

The 2009 spending plan sent to Congress on Monday will project huge budget deficits, around $400 billion for this year and next and more than double the 2007 deficit of $163 billion. But even those estimates could prove too low given the rapidly weakening economy and the total costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which Bush does not include in his request for the budget year beginning Oct. 1.

Last year, when Democrats were newly in the majority, there were drawn-out veto struggles. This year's fights could be worse because it is an election year.

As in past years, Bush's biggest proposed increases are in national security. Defense spending is projected to rise by about 7 percent to $515 billion and homeland security money by almost 11 percent, with a big gain for border security. Details on the budget were obtained through interviews with administration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity until the budget's release.

The bulk of government programs for which Congress sets annual spending levels would remain essentially frozen at current levels. The president does shower extra money on some favored programs in education and to bolster inspections of imported food.

Bush's spending proposal would achieve sizable savings by slowing the growth in the major health programs — Medicare for retirees and Medicaid for the poor. There the president will be asking for almost $200 billion in cuts over five years, about three times the savings he proposed last year.

"Achieve sizable savings by slowing the growth in the major health programs....." That line is truly haunting. Instead of saving money by ending the war or keeping military projects within the Pentagon in place of ridiculously expensive contracts, we will be starving those most in need while continuing to sell our future away with a massive amount of debt.

If Bush is looking for a legacy, I believe 'death and destruction of country' already found him.

Can We? Yes We Can

Great video, forget the celebrities, the music is good just as it is:

Super Linky Sunday

I still haven't decided if I am going to watch the game later. There was supposed to be a party at one of my friends' places but that seems to have fallen through. Since I was 14 and my Raiders left/went back to where they came from being a fan of an NFL team wasn't as appealing to me. Sure I like watching here and now and college is exciting, but I'm more of a baseball/hockey/basketball armchair athlete than for today's activities, though I will admit I'm pulling for the Giants...just a little bit. Enough about me, here's some links you may or may not have seen.

• Can you guess what President Bush's legacy will end up being? Hint: Winning the war on terror (or terrah) isn't part of the equation.

• Back on the Democratic side of things, this personal story of one environmental activist shows that while Hillary talks about having the experience to make change, she can act like the stereotypical politician that tries to play to a constituent instead of helping them....then taking credit for everything in the end where no credit is due. (Reminder: Vote on Tuesday if you are in New York or one of 21 other states)

• Speaking of who to vote for on Tuesday, Jeffrey Feldman mentions how different methods of campaign organizing can affect you in your personal space. What makes more of an impact to you, a robocall on behalf of Hillary from Charlie Rangel...or seeing campaign flyers around town and in your apartment building lobby? Personally, I hate robocalls, no matter who they are for.

• Now for some good news...it seems the writers strike may finally be close to its conclusion.

• Surprise! Adapting green technology actually leads to new jobs! Quick, someone tell the President.

• And finally, while thinking about that green promise, what our current reality looks like and what executives at ExxonMobil are making.