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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (113778)	9/24/2011 3:06:54 PM
From: joefromspringfield	6 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224729

Well for one thing they actually passed a budget. That is something Harry Reid and senate democrats haven't done in three years. As to the downgrade from AAA to AA+, I can't see awarding a AAA rating to any organization that doesn't have something as basic as a budget. What has Barack Obama accomplished during the past 8 months?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (113778)	9/24/2011 3:16:55 PM
From: lorne	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224729

Fox News/Google GOP debate becomes most-watched of the year -- on TV and the Web September 23, 2011 latimesblogs.latimes.com The partnership between Fox News and Google/YouTube for the latest GOP presidential debate Thursday night proved very popular with both TV viewers and Web users. Fox News racked up the largest ratings for a GOP debate yet this year, with 6.1 million total viewers, and 1.7 million in the target demographic: adults 25-54. That's a big bump up in total viewers and in the advertiser-approved demo from the last debate, a partnership between CNN and the Tea Party Express on Sept. 12. That one gathered just under 3.2 million total viewers, and just over 1.1 million in the demographic. The MSNBC/Politico debate at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley on Sept. 7 did 5.4 million viewers, but matched FNC in the demo, with 1.7. Going back to the last FNC debate -- a partnership with the Washington Examiner -- in Ames, Iowa, on Aug. 11, that drew nearly 5.1 million viewers, with 1.4 in the demo. To find the target demo dipping below 1 million, you need to go back to the.... ...June 13 New Hampshire debate on CNN, which had about 3.2 million viewers and 918,000 in the demo; and to the very first GOP debate, aired on Fox News from South Carolina. that one had roughly 3.3 million wiewers, with only 854,000 in the demo. As we noted last time we discussed ratings, the demo numbers vary in a much smaller range than the total viewers, perhaps representing a core audience of the population for all the debates. So, one could interpret this to mean that, as the number of total viewers goes up or down a lot, the demo remains more stable and the change is primarily in younger or older viewers -- or both. It also doesn't hurt Fox that a new Pew survey on news media had 19% of the public choosing Fox News as the top source of TV news, besting local news (16%) and CNN (15%). But here's a general bit of good news for the news media at large: while Pew discovered people have negative feelings about the mainstream media, news organizations are still more trusted sources for information than government or business. And, by the way, the least trusted source for information? You guessed it, candidates running for office themselves. On the Web side, trends data also came in today from Google, tracking what people were searching for before and during the debate. Among the trends were a sudden "Who's Gary Johnson?" flurry of queries that spiked throughout the evening ... And this sudden surge of interest in Herman Cain's 9-9-9 economic plan ... And in the battle of the books -- Mitt Romney's "No Apology" vs. Rick Perry's "Fed Up" -- it looks like the edge went to the former Massachusetts governor (or, giving a less kind spin, viewers suddenly realized Romney HAD a book). We'll leave that interpretation up to you, but here's the tale of the graphs ...

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (113778)	9/24/2011 3:20:34 PM
From: joseffy	5 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224729

Poll finds Obama approval at historic 36% low ..................................................................................................................................... By Justin Sink - 09/24/11 http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/183677-new-poll-shows-obama-approval-slips-to-historic-low President Barack Obama's approval ratings have fallen to a new low, with only 36 percent of Americans saying that they approve of the way he is handling his job overall, according to a new poll from the Economist/YouGov. A majority of Americans - 56 percent - disapprove of the president's performance.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (113778)	9/24/2011 3:21:20 PM
From: lorne	2 Recommendations Respond to of 224729

Obama administration shelves long-term care plan By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR , 09.23.11, forbes.com WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration has shelved a financially troubled long-term care insurance plan. Officials said Thursday the staff has been cut and it's an "open question" if the program will be implemented. Known as CLASS, the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program was created under President Barack Obama's health care law as a voluntary long-term care insurance program for workers. Doubts about its financial viability were raised early on and it has since languished in bureaucratic limbo, with Republicans in Congress pushing for repeal or defunding. In an interview Thursday, a top technical expert working on a financial plan for CLASS said the eight people on the program staff were told last week they would be reassigned. "They told us that they were going to take a pause," said Bob Yee, an actuary responsible for long-range cost estimates. Yee said he decided after getting the news to leave the government, and plans to return to private industry. "It's difficult trying to find a solution without an in-house actuary," said Yee. "My feeling is that they are not going to make some wonderful discovery. You draw your own conclusion about what's going to happen." Yee's departure was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. A central design flaw has dogged CLASS from the beginning. Unless large numbers of healthy people willingly sign up, it will create a situation where soaring premiums for a smaller group of frail beneficiaries eventually destabilize the program. The Associated Press reported last week on emails showing that technical experts in the government said CLASS could not be kept afloat indefinitely without a taxpayer bailout, or a requirement that workers enroll. But the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress pressed on with the idea, a longstanding priority for the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass. Technically, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has most of next year to make a decision. As long as CLASS remains on the books it counts as reducing the deficit in the ten-year estimating window used for federal budget purposes. That's because CLASS would collect premiums for a number of years before it paid any benefits. The budget quirk may make it tempting to maintain at least a shell of a program. HHS issued a statement Thursday saying that while the staff of the CLASS office has been reduced, reports that the office is closing are not accurate. "We are continuing our analysis of this program," said the statement. "As we have said in the past, it is an open question whether the program will be implemented." Under CLASS workers would pay an affordable sum of around $100 a month or less. In exchange, they would receive a modest daily cash benefit averaging no less than $50 if they become disabled later in life. Beneficiaries could use the money for services to help them stay at home, or to help with nursing home bills. Nursing homes and long-term care providers support the program, while private long-term care insurance companies oppose it. LeadingAge, a trade group representing nonprofit nursing homes and long-term care providers said it will continue to push for the program. "There is no other solution on the table right now to solve the crisis of paying for long-term services and supports," Larry Minnix, the group's CEO, said in a statement. Yee, the departing expert, said the staff was not told how long the program would be paused. "Once you take a pause, it's hard to start back up," he said.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (113778)	9/24/2011 4:12:05 PM
From: TideGlider	3 Recommendations Respond to of 224729

They made you miserable just getting elected. Obama and Reid won't allow passage of any of their legislation so one of the few things they accomplished was to prevent Obama from spending an extra trillion. Both fine accomplishments. It is as if Obama and Reid have congress held hostage with a gun to their heads. What have House Republican accomplished during the past 8 months?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (113778)	9/24/2011 11:55:44 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 224729

mail.verizon.com@01CC7A80.E7270B40&partIndex=0.2:image002.jpg@01CC7A80.E7270B40&partIndex=0.3:image003.jpg@01CC7A80.E7270B40&partIndex=0.4:image004.jpg@01CC7A80.E7270B40&partIndex=0.5:image005.jpg@01CC7A80.E7270B40&partIndex=0.6:image006.jpg@01CC7A80.E7270B40

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (113778)	9/24/2011 11:57:32 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	3 Recommendations Respond to of 224729

three years under ODUMBA: poor poorer - rich poorer - unemployment 9.2% ... dickhead kennytroll working every weekend as door greeter

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (113778)	9/25/2011 7:57:51 AM
From: lorne	2 Recommendations Respond to of 224729

Report: President's buddy gave grants to fraud suspect Chicago woman accused of making off with $500,000 September 24, 2011 wnd.com The Washington-based Judicial Watch, the government watchdog that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, is noting that most media reports about an alleged fraud case in Chicago – and in fact even the government news releases about it – have neglected to mention that "a close friend, adviser and donor of President Obama" is "embroiled in the scandal." The case, according to the U.S. attorney's office in the central district of Illinois, involves Margaret A. Davis, a Chicago woman who formerly served as program director for the Chicago Chapter of the National Black Nurses Association. She is suspected of defrauding various state grant programs of approximately $500,000, and the 59-year-old is accused in a 16-count indictment with 14 counts of mail fraud and two counts of money laundering. "It's the taboo portion of the story that's been ignored by the mainstream media and conveniently omitted in government press releases announcing the June federal indictment a month after it was filed," Judicial Watch said. "What the feds haven't revealed is that the state agency that gave Davis all the money, the Illinois Department of Public Health, was run by one of Obama's closest pals, Dr. Eric Whitaker, when the cash was disbursed. We know this only because Chicago's conservative-leaning newspaper has been digging around. This week it published a lengthy article connecting the dots between Whitaker and the corruption scheme," Judicial Watch said. That report, from the Sun Times, said under Whitaker, the Illinois Department of Public Health awarded Davis a "no-bid contract and seven AIDS- and cancer-related grants that became part of her $500,000 cash-siphoning scheme, prosecutors say." "Whitaker – who's now a top executive at the University of Chicago Medical Center – has not been accused of any wrongdoing. He says he couldn't have known about the problems the Davis indictment describes and that he and his staff acted quickly when they became aware of problems with other contractors," the report said. It said federal authorities have demanded information from the health department about a wide range of outreach programs that Whitaker supervised. He had been hired for the post by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2003 on Obama's recommendation. "During Whitaker's four-year tenure, the agency spent millions of taxpayer dollars on highly questionable publicity campaigns to educate African-Americans and other minorities about common disease in the communities, mainly AIDS," Judicial Watch said. The watchdog organization said Whitaker had referred to the indicted nurse as 'the ultimate advocate for health care and human services.'" Judicial Watch added, "He seems to have little worries as he enjoys his lucrative, private-sector job. In 2007 Whitaker resigned to join Michelle Obama at the University of Chicago Medical Center where he makes more than $670,000 a year as executive vice president for strategic affiliations and associate dean for community-based research." The newspaper said Whitaker and several others were named in a subpoena seeking their state-government emails earlier. But none of those was charged. The Sun-Times said during the 2008 campaign, "Whitaker frequently traveled with Obama, and he remains part of the president's inner circle. He vacationed with the president in Martha's Vineyard late last month and attended three White House parties earlier this year."

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (113778)	9/25/2011 10:41:13 AM
From: lorne	2 Recommendations Respond to of 224729

ken...How does this sound, Instead of the obamanation in the White House the USA would have the Hermanator...that sound good to you?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (113778)	9/25/2011 11:58:45 AM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 224729

thereformedbroker.com

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (113778)	9/25/2011 11:59:06 AM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 224729

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/world/europe/as-welfare-state-collapses-greeks-suffer-and-fear-future.html?_r=2&hp

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (113778)	9/26/2011 10:02:08 AM
From: Bald Eagle	5 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224729

When the Democrats took over Congress in January 2007, unemployment was 4.4 percent. It is now 9.1 percent. The budget deficit created by the outgoing Republican Congress was only $161 billion. It is now $1.7 trillion. The total outstanding debt in January 2007 was $8.7 trillion. It is now $14.6 trillion. Before the Democrats took control of everything, America's credit rating was AAA. It is now AA+. Bush never saw the 2009 budget because Democrats don’t like doing budgets. After almost five years of democrat budgets the deficit is 1.7 trillion a year and real unemployment (U6) is at 17%.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (113778)	9/26/2011 10:45:21 AM
From: locogringo	3 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 224729

kenny_troll, will you join me in condemning this worthless, ignorant, bitter POS for making fun of 1500 burned out families just to score a cheap political point? President Barack Obama is swiping at Texas Gov. Rick Perry, criticizing him as "a governor whose state is on fire, denying climate change." hosted.ap.org REPLY: 'Outrageous' "It's outrageous President Obama would use the burning of 1,500 homes, the worst fires in state history, as a political attack," Perry spokesman Ray Sullivan emailed this morning. " Read more: politico.com