Lex is right, if the Democrats don't do something about the job situation they're gonna get killed in November. Unfortunately both parties have played a part in this mess so I'm not liking any of the "leadership" alternatives these days. Fec has a nice post on politicians and the job situation too. The fun job graphic that prompted Lex's post:
California hasn't passed it's 2010-11 budget and as a result Gov. Schwarzenegger has reduced state employees' pay to the federal minimum wage: $7.25 an hour. And if you're a state employed lawyer or doctor you're really SOL:
Some employees, such as doctors and lawyers, would get no pay because federal exempts them from any minimum wage requirement. Managers, supervisors and others who don't get paid for working more than 40 hours per week would receive $455 per week until a budget deal got done.
Schwarzenegger has invoked a 2003 state Supreme Court decision as grounds for the move. That ruling, White v. Davis, held that without a budget that appropriates money for state payroll, employee wages can be withheld to the federal minimum. That condition exists today, which is the start of the 2010-11 fiscal year and the state is without a budget. The back pay would be paid once a budget is enacted.
Full article: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/01/2864148/schwarzenegger-orders-minimum.html#ixzz0sWVNpsyi
The good news for the 'crats is that they'll get their money eventually, but I'm thinking next month's mortgage and car payments are gonna be painful for them.
President Obama wrote the following on Twitter: "With Robert Byrd's passing, West Virginia has lost a true champion, and America has lost a voice of principle and reason."
Let's put this in perspective. That sentence was written by America's first black president about a man who while he was serving in Congress filibustered against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and as a young man had belonged to the KKK. Byrd later said that he regretted both of those decisions, but to me that even further highlights the change we've seen in this country in what is really a historical blink of an eye.
Here's an interesting fact for those of us who live in the Piedmont Triad of North Carolina: Byrd was born in 1917 in North Wilkesboro (about an hour from Winston-Salem) and was originally named Cornelius Calvin Sale, Jr. His mother died in the 1918 flu pandemic and he was adopted by his aunt and uncle from West Virginia and they changed his name to Robert Carlyle Byrd.
Video of Rep. Etheridge, D NC-2, and a college student on the street in DC:
There are a gazillion reasons to stay out of politics, but one that never occurred to me until I read this post at YES! Weekly is that when you're stumping you'll likely have to deal with people in various stages of undress. It's bad enough dealing with this at the pool, where you're at least expecting it, but I don't think I could handle it as part of what's the equivalent of a job interview. Ick.
A new law in Arizona has garnered a lot of attention nation-wide and in the process has stirred up quite a debate about issues like illegal immigration, civil rights and states' rights. According to this blog post by Yes! Weekly's Jordan Green it is also already having an effect on the University of Arizona:
We have already begun to feel an impact from SB 1070. The families of a number of out-of-state students (to date all of them honors students) have told us that they are changing their plans and will be sending their children to universities in other states. This should sadden anyone who cares about attracting the best and brightest students to Arizona.
I think this is just the beginning for Arizona. In the very near future I suspect you'll be seeing business conventions moved to venues in other states, business and leisure travel to the state curtailed, and boycotts called by special interest groups.
Usually hot-button issues like this result in a lot noise without much action for a short time and then blow over, but this one feels different. It feels like this one could turn into a major economic and social event for Arizona.
I've never registered with a political party. My brother once said it was because I've never taken a hard stand on anything (of course I disagree), but it's really because I can find enough distasteful about any political party's platform that I don't want to be associated with it. Besides, I vote for the individual, not the party, so my lack of party affiliation has never bothered me. Once I read this piece on RNC chair Michael Steele's expense account I was reminded why I've stayed independent:
While Steele has not purchased a plane, he continues to charter them. According to federal disclosure records, the RNC spent $17,514 on private aircraft in the month of February alone (as well as $12,691 on limousines during the same period). There are no readily identifiable private plane expenses for Democratic National Committee chairman Tim Kaine in the DNC’s last three months of filings.
The RNC explains that Steele charters jets only when commercial service is unavailable, or when his tight schedule requires it. “Anytime the chairman has taken any private travel has been a either to a route that doesn’t exist or because of connections and multiple travel to where he just wasn’t able to do so,” Heye said. Yet Steele’s office repeatedly refused to explain in specific terms the circumstances of the February charter flights.
Once on the ground, FEC filings suggest, Steele travels in style. A February RNC trip to California, for example, included a $9,099 stop at the Beverly Hills Hotel, $6,596 dropped at the nearby Four Seasons, and $1,620.71 spent [update: the amount is actually $1,946.25] at Voyeur West Hollywood, a bondage-themed nightclub featuring topless women dancers imitating lesbian sex.
RNC trips to other cities produced bills from a long list of chic and costly hotels such as the Venetian and the M Resort in Las Vegas, and the W (for a total of $19,443) in Washington. A midwinter trip to Hawaii cost the RNC $43,828, not including airfare.
I can only think of one reason a political campaign would come up with an ad this baaaad: it was the class project for a staff member's kindergardener. Enjoy:
From a press release received this afternoon:
Billy Kennedy, a Watauga County talk radio host and community leader, will formally announce his candidacy on February 8 for the U.S. House of Representatives, 5th District of North Carolina. The “Billy Kennedy Caravan” will stretch from Boone to Raleigh that day, with stops in Wilkesboro and Winston-Salem…
Billy Kennedy is a well known Friday morning personality on WATA-AM 1450 “High Country Radio,” where he has co-hosted “Watauga Talks” for several years. Kennedy has turned the “Watauga Talks” spotlight onto the work of non-profits, charitable organizations and community-building efforts. He regularly interviews both elected officials and candidates running for office. Kennedy is known for his willingness to confront tough issues and ask hard questions…
Kennedy believes Washington is out of touch with working peoples’ lives and values. “My father always taught me to stand up for what was right and fair,” says Kennedy. “I see very little of what is right and fair on either side of the aisle in Washington.”
Here's his website: http://www.billykennedyforcongress.com/
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Befuddled 