Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: koan who wrote (83508)	9/25/2010 2:33:35 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Isn't Dionne one of your favs? Welcome back, Mr. President By E.J. Dionne Jr. Thursday, September 9, 2010 President Obama decided this week to raise the stakes in this fall's election by making the choice about something instead of nothing but anger. In the process, he will confront a deeply embedded media narrative that sees a Republican triumph as all but inevitable. Paradoxically, such extravagant expectations may be the GOP's biggest problem -- by raising the bar for what will constitute success and by discouraging necessary strategic adjustments if our newly combative president begins to alter the political battlefield. Until Obama's Labor Day speech in Milwaukee and his statement of principles Wednesday near Cleveland, it was not clear how much heart he had in the fight or whether he would ever offer a comprehensive argument for the advantage of his party's approach. In the absence of a coherent case, Republicans were winning by default on a wave of protest votes. Without this new effort at self-definition, Obama was a blur: a socialist to conservatives, a sellout to some progressives, and a disappointment to younger Americans who wondered what happened to the ebullient, hopeful guy they voted for. That's why the Milwaukee-Cleveland one-two punch mattered. The first speech showed Obama could fight and enjoy himself in the process. The second speech spelled out why he has chosen to do battle. The news headline was Obama's decision to draw the line on George W. Bush's tax cuts. He would continue the most economically stimulative cuts for families earning less than $250,000 a year but say no to extending the rest of the tax cuts that, as Obama noted, "would have us borrow $700 billion over the next 10 years to give a tax cut of about $100,000 to folks who are already millionaires." What do Democrats stand for if they are not willing to take on this cause? But even more, Wednesday's speech in Parma, Ohio, showed Obama speaking openly about the philosophical underpinnings of his presidency by way of explaining where he would lead the country. "I've never believed that government has all the answers to our problems," Obama said. "But in the words of the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, I also believe that government should do for the people what they cannot do better for themselves." Then he offered examples of what that meant, highlighting programs Americans believe in, as an antidote to empty and abstract anti-government rhetoric. Suddenly, there's a point to this election. Obama is late to this game, but at least he's finally playing it. The New Obama (or, rather, the resurrected Old Obama) will be up against a media story line whose self-sustaining quality was brought home by the treatment of Gallup poll findings over the past two months. The media largely ignored a mid-July survey giving Democrats a six-point lead, then devoted huge blocks of print and airtime to last week's Gallup survey dramatizing conventional wisdom by showing Republicans ahead by a whopping 10 points -- only to have Gallup come out this week with a poll showing Republicans and Democrats tied. All this raises the question of whether the only polls that matter are ones that reinforce preconceptions. Even Democrats concede that a Republican sweep may be in the cards. But there is another possibility: that we are now at the Republican peak and that Democrats are in a position to claw back enough support to hang on to both houses of Congress. Republican voters can't get more enthusiastic without violating the law by casting multiple ballots. Democrats, on the other hand, have a large swath of yet-to-be motivated sympathizers. For Republicans, the costs of Tea Party extremism are beginning to balance the benefits of the movement's energy. Republican pollster David Winston thinks the economy has given his party "an enormous opening," but he cautions against seeing the contest as over and done with. As a technical matter, he argues that likely-voter screens applied by pollsters too early exclude a disproportionate number of voters in key Democratic constituencies. And the economic debate Obama tried to reframe this week, Winston said, "is going to have an impact. It's not enough for Obama to be wrong. If Republicans want to get to a majority, they have to lay out where they want to go." Yes, Republicans had better start defining themselves. If they don't, Obama, who labeled them the party of "stagnant growth, eroding competitiveness and a shrinking middle class," is happy to do it for them. That's what changed in Milwaukee and Cleveland. ejdionne@washpost.com washingtonpost.com

To: koan who wrote (83508)	9/25/2010 2:40:53 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

And if Obama refuses to get out of Afghanistan, end DADT or act like a democrat we will get rid of him. Over my dead body. We liberals are not like Republican's who will support the village idiot if they are a Republican. Funny, you keep saying you're a liberal but you complain like a blue dog. As you are not a democrat apparently, you get no say. As much as you are.

To: koan who wrote (83508)	9/25/2010 2:41:48 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

Dem-Sponsored Poll: Jack Conway Down Only 3 To Rand Paul In KY-SEN Race Marc Kilstein \| September 24, 2010 According to a new poll of the Kentucky Senate race commissioned by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic nominee Jack Conway is nipping at the heels of Republican nominee Rand Paul, down only 45%-42%. The latest survey, conducted by Democratic-pollster Benenson Strategy Group, finds the race's point-spread within the poll's ±3.7% margin of error. In an early-September Conway internal poll, the firm found the Democrat behind two, 47%-45%. Recent polls have not been as friendly to Conway as these internals -- a September 12 PPP poll saw Paul on top 49%-42% and a Rasmussen poll earlier this month produced a 15-point advantage for the Republican. The TPM Poll Average shows Paul ahead of Conway 46.9%-41.7%. For more on the race, check out TPMDC's full coverage here. ------------------------------ go, Jack, go

To: koan who wrote (83508)	9/25/2010 2:58:40 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 89467

Local waters will benefit from Seattle's program to install rain gardens Seattle Public Utilities is sponsoring a citywide effort to install rain gardens in residential yards. The effort is part of a larger program to help meet federal requirements of the Clean Water Act. The city will pay for design and installation of the gardens, which help minimize storm- and wastewater runoff that compromises the quality of local waters such as Puget Sound. By Valerie Easton Ballard is the first of 15 neighborhoods to receive rebates from the city of Seattle for rain gardens. Eleanor Trainor and her son, Aidan, have new gardens front and back, paid for as part of the city program to reduce stormwater runoff. The city of Seattle will finance thousands of new rain gardens over the next decade. Seattle Public Utilities websites offer a wealth of information, including design standards for rain gardens. To find out more about the program, check out www.rainwise.seattle.gov, e-mail your questions to rainwise@seattle.gov or call the Garden Hotline at 206-633-0224. "IF YOU DON'T already have rain gardens, there's no excuse not to do this," declares Eleanor Trainor. Her freshly revamped Ballard garden is the first one completed under Seattle Public Utilities' ambitious new residential rain-garden program. Over the next 15 years, the city will spend $500 million to reduce storm- and wastewater pollution and clean local waterways. The extensive program is necessary to meet water-quality standards of the federal Clean Water Act. SPU has divided the city into 15 combined sewer overflow (CSO) areas. Ballard is first up, followed by North Union Bay and Montlake slated to come online in 2011. Within each area, the city is staging a three-pronged effort. Phase one is already under way. The city is installing roadside rain gardens with swales and curb cuts that'll make our parking strips look and function differently. Starting next year, alleyways will be converted to permeable pavement so water will slowly percolate through rather than run off them. The third prong, in which Trainor participated, is residential. The city is offering rebates to homeowners who install rain gardens and cisterns. The Rainwise Program hopes to inspire 600 households, or 15 percent of residents in the Ballard CSO, to upgrade their gardens' water-handling capacity. Trainor's basement has flooded twice, so she paid attention when she heard her neighborhood was the first eligible for the program. It didn't hurt that Jessi Bloom, an old friend from her Rat City Rollergirl days, was one of the contractors qualified by the city to do the work. Bloom's little display garden full of sustainable features won the People's Choice Award at the 2010 Northwest Flower & Garden Show. It's not difficult to qualify for the program, says Trainor. "The idea is to collect as much water as possible from the roof and use it on site." The process began with a perk test, then a pre-construction inspection by the city. The worst part was demolition because Trainor, a contractor herself, volunteered to remove all the old sod. Then Bloom's crew came in to dig out the rain gardens, haul in rock and a bioretentive mix of native soil and compost, then install the plants. "They taught me how to maintain the gardens and clean out the catch basin," says Trainor. "The city has been accommodating, and Jessi and her crew were a dream to work with." Trainor's front yard, which used to be grass and ratty roses, is now sculpted into two rain gardens that stretch from house to sidewalk. Rain chains cascade from each side of the front porch, directing water from the roof into a river of stone that drains down into the rain gardens. Rain barrels at every corner of the house collect and store runoff to irrigate the garden. There's a third rain garden in the backyard. Bloom helped Trainor save many of her plants and reuse them around the rain gardens, including grasses, hydrangeas and a favorite smoke tree. Down in the depressions, Bloom favors plants that thrive in dampness, including ornamental horsetail (Equisetum hymale), and rushes like Juncus ensifolius and J. acutus. "I got Jessi Bloom to design my garden, and the city paid for it!" says Trainor. Then she gets serious and points out how Ballard is wedged between Puget Sound and the Ship Canal. "We can see where our runoff ends up, and this program really helps with that," she says. "The rain gardens appeal to my aesthetic and my sense of responsibility." Valerie Easton is a Seattle freelance writer and author of "The New Low-Maintenance Garden." Check out her blog at www.valeaston.com. Mike Siegel is a Seattle Times staff photographer. seattletimes.nwsource.com