Posts by akgal

I think what Romney said reflects his true opinion regardless of what Ann Romney's speech at the convention tried to portray - that the Romney family understands the working poor in this country.  I do think however that with the rising costs of assisting Americans that there should be a serious discussion of what the government can and cannot pay for.  

Families used to be rather cohesive and took care of their elderly parents etc.  now this is falling more and more to agencies and for profit institutions that are expensive and costing us alot of tax dollars.  

Do you have any openings?  I think I might like to work there.

There is something twisted about an obese nation choosing to gulp down fried chicken sandwiches to prove a point. 

IMO I think it is a compliment that she asked you and she must think highly of you and your talents to want you to assist her with this project.  I would be honest and tell her that you can't afford to give up your paid work to volunteer for her, and ask if there is any chance that you could be paid for your time.  If she says no, tell her that as much as you would love to do it, that you can't do it.  However, I would let her know that is something comes up in the future that is paid you would be interested in it.   

I'd like to see the link as well.  There is alot of speculation being thrown against the wall to see what sticks.  Fox News is throwing alot of spit balls.

My prediction is that ObamaCare passes including the individual mandate.  IMO this is one of the most important cases that the Supreme Court has heard in awhile. I think the SCOTUS recognizes that the individual mandate goes beyond the scope of the individual states and is reflective of the welfare of the entire country and thus should be decided at the federal level.     

A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it begins to rain.

Mark Twain

"We've got infinitely more power at the ballot box than we do in the boardroom."

I totally agree with this.  What recourse would the American people have with privatized services when things did not go well with them?  Of course the courts but who can afford that?  At least we have the ballot box that allows everyone to vote.  In addition, where does it say that privatization of the many services that Americans have become used to would be better under privatization and not just different?

It seems to me that the attack on the gov't lumps all of the federal programs together, why are they(both the repub. & democrats) not identifying measurements to determine the effectiveness of the programs and the impact both negative and positive on the country.  We as a country should always hold federal agencies accountable on the effectiveness of their programs, including the military, IMO.   

For the life of me, why would the Reps. still continue to beat us over the head with allowing the tax cuts for those over $250,000 when all they whine about is our debt?  It makes absolutely no sense to me.  If the tax cuts were put in place to help create jobs i.e. the ole trickle down theory, where in the heck are the jobs that were created AS A RESULT OF THE TAX CUTS that have been in place. 

The elimination of the tax cuts for someone making over $250,000 may mean they have to reduce their vacation from 3 weeks to 2 weeks.  To a family making $50,000 a year the elimination of the tax cut may mean the difference between being able to afford rent or groceries. 

Frankly, I don't see much of a difference between BP's response vs. Exxon's response 21 years ago to the oil spill in Prince William Sound.  People cleaning up the oil got sick and some of them had severe health reactions to working with the oil.  Exxon couldn't contain the oil either.  WTH have the oil companies been doing for the last 20 years?  And the federal gov't oversight for the past 20 years = FAIL IMO.  I don't believe BP for a minute that they will make "everyone whole".  They are lying....this will be fought in courts and I predict BP will fight the settlements costs just like Exxon did and might be even more successful since they could claim an act of God, the environmental factors, etc caused the well to fail not them.  They will come up with some lame excuse.

As for Prince William Sound?  The shores have a ring of oil around it to this day - 21 years later.  It is like a bathtub with an oil ring around it.  It all sucks.....