Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Friday, August 07, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Poll: Most Americans support government-backed health plans
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By Agence France-Presse
Published: June 21, 2009
Updated 8 hours ago
The overwhelming majority of Americans support substantial changes to the country’s health care system, including a government-run health insurance option, a new opinion poll found.
The survey by The New York Times and CBS News also indicated most Americans would be willing to pay higher taxes so everyone could have health insurance.
Eighty-five percent of respondents said the health care system needed to be fundamentally changed or completely rebuilt, according to the poll.
In addition, the survey found that 72 percent of those questioned supported a government-administered insurance plan — something like Medicare for those under 65 — that would compete for customers with private insurers.
Twenty percent said they were opposed.
When asked which party was more likely to improve health care, 18 percent of said the Republicans while 57 percent picked the Democrats. Even one of four Republicans said the Democrats would do better.
However, half of those who identified themselves as Republicans said they would support a public plan, along with nearly three-fourths of independents and almost nine in 10 Democrats, according to the poll.
President Barack Obama wants Congress to approve his health care reform proposals by the end of the year in order to fulfill one of his key campaign promises — providing health care to the 46 million Americans, some 15 percent of the population, who currently do not have any medical coverage.
Obama’s health care plan includes a government insurance option, which has been fiercely criticized by Republicans.
At the same time, the survey found that 77 percent of Americans were very or somewhat satisfied with the quality of their own health care, a factor that is being exploited by opponents of the president’s proposal.
The poll of 895 adults was conducted from June 12 to 16 and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
CBS: Convicted rapists allowed to enlist in military
This is what happens when we are fighting too damn many wars for no reason.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Sunday, February 01, 2009
The Real Story on Supply-Side Economics
Weird Wally Sez: Supply-Side Economics is like the man who took giant steps in order to save his ten dollar shoes, he ended up splitting his twenty dollar pants.
End of Story.
Weird Wally Sez: Supply-Side Economics is like the man who took giant steps in order to save his ten dollar shoes, he ended up splitting his twenty dollar pants.
End of Story.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Rachel Maddow Show: Michael Isikoff on Rove's Claim of Executive Privilege
Weird Wally (WW) is having a hard time believing what he is actually seeing.
Where will Karl Rove be on the day that he is supposed to testify before Congress?
He will either be there or he won’t.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Why No Republican Bipartisanship?
The answer is simple. They screwed up so bad that the only people who currently support them is their mentally-ill base...the wing-nuts of the right.
Thus, should the GOP show any signs of acting with good sense and of good faith, they will loose their crazy base and have no-one and nothing. Better the GOP acts a little crazy for their base when all they otherwise, have is their dismal track record. After all, real people with good sense and of good faith can smell the shit before we actually step in it.
And that is a real big problem for Republicans in Washington।
After all, how many times we gotta vote before they finally realize that we got a damn good a sense of smell?
The answer is simple. They screwed up so bad that the only people who currently support them is their mentally-ill base...the wing-nuts of the right.
Thus, should the GOP show any signs of acting with good sense and of good faith, they will loose their crazy base and have no-one and nothing. Better the GOP acts a little crazy for their base when all they otherwise, have is their dismal track record. After all, real people with good sense and of good faith can smell the shit before we actually step in it.
And that is a real big problem for Republicans in Washington।
After all, how many times we gotta vote before they finally realize that we got a damn good a sense of smell?
Saturday, January 17, 2009
The Top Ten Alternative Theories Which May Explain the K-T Extinction...
Why did all the dinosaurs go?
10 - Heat Strokes and pulmonary complications caused by greenhouse gases: Absent appropriate environmental protection regulations and zoning restrictions, ornithopods and hadrosaurs stripped most CO2 absorbing leaves and deposited huge piles of methane dung
9 - Rejection of “share the wealth” cooperative plan for food resources: As mammal populations grew, they made increased demands for food resources on the theropod “establishment” which provoked even more unrest by its “tooth and claw” response.
8 - Over-reliance on the Welfare State and loss of individual initiative: As large carnivores such as T-Rex became increasingly dependent on carrion, they gradually lost their hunting skills and starved, once the subsidized handout ended.
7 - Forced relocation to less desirable neighborhoods due to declining value: Lower property values caused by overgrazing and frequent theropod attacks prompted many herbivores to move to volcano hillsides and tsunami prone beach-front locations.
6 - Top Management’s (T-Rex’s) inexperience in responding to a global crisis: When meteorite “Katrina” struck the earth, it became apparent that no T-Rex emergency evacuation plans had ever been developed.
5 - A greed motivated “Ponzi” scheme designed to benefit only T-Rex: A small group of T-Rexs may have swindled their fellow carnivores by promising an unsustainable supply of herbivore carcasses. However, the scheme collapsed when the supply of hadrosaurs was exhausted and prey-predator ratios became unbalanced.
4 - Unwillingness to accept and accommodate non-dinosaur values and culture. Although smaller, the primitive tribes of mammal militants operating from caves and burrows gradually wore down the “super powers,” weakening the dino’s survival instinct.
3 - Mother Nature’s refusal to grant “bail-out” assistance for the “Big Three”: Although the Big Three (Tyronnosaurs Rex, Triceratops and Gorgosaurus) were said to be “too big to fail,” they all went bellyup after the massive food deficit.
2 - The societal impact of job losses caused by the demise of the “Big Three”: Collapse at the top of the food chain rippled throughout the ecosystem and resulted in mass unemployment among carcass scavengers and decomposers.
1 - Replacement birthrates insufficient to sustain dino population: As evidenced by their gaily colored feathered attire, gender distinctions became blurred as more same sex relationships developed, lowering the number of births.
Note: Although yet unproven, these theories may provide research possibilities to paleontologists
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Things to Keep in Mind as We Move Toward 2009
1. A different kind of Economics according to Paul Krugman
2. A different kind of Politics according to David Axelrod
3. The Bush Presidency was not a Failure according to Laura Bush
And so on and so on, according to Weird Wally...
You Decide
1. A different kind of Economics according to Paul Krugman
2. A different kind of Politics according to David Axelrod
3. The Bush Presidency was not a Failure according to Laura Bush
And so on and so on, according to Weird Wally...
You Decide
Thursday, November 20, 2008
2/2 Naomi Klein: Bailout is 'multi-trillion-dollar crime scene'
Weird Wally wants you to know about Wall Street Extortion.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Believe it or not, Weird Wally (WW) actually feels bad for Alan Greenspan.
Yes, WW realizes that we are in a major mess. The shit has hit the fan and instead of “ trickle down,” most of us are experiencing the “splatter.”
According to WW, it’s bad enough to experience “trickle down (being pissed on),” but it’s a whole different matter to experience the “splatter (being shat on).”
And for that, according to WW, we have Greenspan to thank. The way WW says he understands it, Greenspan was for deregulation because, he figured that the private sector would police themselves.
But “deregulation” is the same as saying that everything is legal and anything goes. The second that a government says that word, all the sociopaths in the world, will respond with a bogus plan to use deregulation, so that they can get the money.
So, the problem with Mr. Greenspan was one of innocence.
He just didn’t understand the nature of greed and how no matter how much you have, it is not nearly enough.
On the other hand, were the act of burglary “deregulated” and made legal, where would you park your pickup-truck and your extra-large visual display screen?
Meanwhile, WW, reformed second story-man and CIA Operative, says: “don’t leave home without them!”
Yes, WW realizes that we are in a major mess. The shit has hit the fan and instead of “ trickle down,” most of us are experiencing the “splatter.”
According to WW, it’s bad enough to experience “trickle down (being pissed on),” but it’s a whole different matter to experience the “splatter (being shat on).”
And for that, according to WW, we have Greenspan to thank. The way WW says he understands it, Greenspan was for deregulation because, he figured that the private sector would police themselves.
But “deregulation” is the same as saying that everything is legal and anything goes. The second that a government says that word, all the sociopaths in the world, will respond with a bogus plan to use deregulation, so that they can get the money.
So, the problem with Mr. Greenspan was one of innocence.
He just didn’t understand the nature of greed and how no matter how much you have, it is not nearly enough.
On the other hand, were the act of burglary “deregulated” and made legal, where would you park your pickup-truck and your extra-large visual display screen?
Meanwhile, WW, reformed second story-man and CIA Operative, says: “don’t leave home without them!”
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
The Worm Turns in Alaska
Breaking News from the Anchorge Daily News
Board's Troopergate probe casts wider net
ETHICS: Investigator hasn't said who else may be under scrutiny.
By TOM KIZZIA
tkizzia@adn.com
Published: October 13th, 2008 11:08 PM
Last Modified: October 13th, 2008 10:58 AM
The state Personnel Board investigation of Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of Walt Monegan has broadened to include other ethics complaints against the governor and examination of actions by other state employees, according to the independent counsel handling the case.
The investigator, Tim Petumenos, did not say who else is under scrutiny. But in two recent letters describing his inquiry, he cited the consolidation of complaints and the involvement of other officials as a reason for not going along with Palin's request to make the examination of her activities more public.
Two other ethics complaints involving Palin are known. One, by activist Andree McLeod, alleges that state hiring practices were circumvented for a Palin supporter. The case is not related to Monegan's firing. The other, by the Public Safety Employees Association, alleges that trooper Mike Wooten's personnel file was illegally breached by state officials.
John Cyr, the PSEA executive director, said Monday the union plans to amend its complaint to be sure the board investigates "harassment" of Wooten as well.
Petumenos has not spoken to the press, in keeping with the secrecy of the state process. But he gave a rough description of the investigation's course in two letters to an Anchorage attorney threatening a lawsuit over Palin's effort to waive confidentiality.
Attention is turning this week to the Personnel Board -- the state's official avenue for investigating ethics complaints -- after release of the Legislature's Troopergate investigation last Friday. The Legislature's investigator concluded that Palin was within her rights to fire Monegan as public safety commissioner, but abused her power and broke the ethics law in joining her husband to push for the firing of Wooten, who was once married to the governor's sister.
Palin reversed an earlier pledge and refused to cooperate with the Legislature's investigation, calling it politically biased. In an unusual twist, she filed the ethics complaint against herself before the board, saying she hoped to "clear the air" by an inquiry through proper channels. She asked the board to decide if she broke ethics laws or acted improperly in dismissing Monegan or in dealing with Wooten -- basically the same ground Branchflower covered.
Petumenos has requested a copy of Friday's legislative report, including confidential backup material, said Sen. Kim Elton, D-Juneau, chairman of the Legislative Council. Elton said the council will meet Thursday to vote on whether to give Petumenos all the material gathered by its investigator, Steve Branchflower.
Petumenos was hired by the Personnel Board to handle the case because the state attorney general's office, which normally investigates ethics charges, would have a conflict investigating the governor.
Under the state's inscrutable system for investigating official ethics complaints, there's no way to tell how long Petumenos' investigation might take. The Personnel Board, made up of three gubernatorial appointees, has meetings scheduled for Oct. 20 and Nov. 3. Agendas for those meetings mention confidential ethics matters to be handled in executive session.
Nor is there any certainty, if the complaints are settled or dismissed, that the results of the investigation will ever be made public. A review of recent Personnel Board cases, however, suggests it's likely most information will eventually be released.
Palin has been involved in Personnel Board investigations before -- though not as a subject of complaint -- and at the time complained about their secrecy.
In high-profile cases that established her statewide reputation as an ethics reformer, Palin helped with a 2003 investigation of Republican Party chairman Randy Ruedrich, who was working on a state oil regulatory panel, and she co-filed a complaint in 2004 against then-attorney general Gregg Renkes.
Both men were found by investigators to have crossed ethical lines. Details of the investigations were released in the end, as part of a settlement that stopped short of the full public hearing before an administrative law judge that the law requires in serious cases.
In the Ruedrich case, Palin resigned her state job in protest while the investigation was still secret, saying she felt implicated in a cover-up because of the shroud.
"I'd like to find a hero in the Legislature who can take on and change that law and make it more sensible," Palin said at the time she resigned. As governor, she has supported changes to ethics laws, but the secrecy of board investigations has not been changed.
Palin fired Monegan in July and the legislative inquiry began later that month.
Four days after her Aug. 29 selection as John McCain's Republican vice presidential candidate, Palin's lawyer filed an official ethics complaint over the Monegan affair with the Personnel Board, urging the Legislature to give way. The Legislature refused, creating parallel investigations.
Judging from Petumenos' letters on the case, he feels able to range as broadly as Branchflower into subjects related to the original ethics complaints.
One element will distinguish the Personnel Board inquiry: It will have Palin's cooperation.
Sarah and Todd Palin have agreed to be interviewed by Petumenos at the end of next week, said Meg Stapleton, a spokeswoman for the McCain-Palin campaign. She said Monday she has no other details of the arrangement.
There's another distinction: While the Legislature's inquiry ended last Friday with vague talk of further action, the official investigation can bring legal consequences under the state ethics law.
The three current members of the Personnel Board were appointed by Gov. Frank Murkowski. Palin reappointed one, Debra English of Anchorage, last January.
The three unsalaried appointees usually handle less momentous matters at quarterly lunch meetings, said Dianne Kiesel, deputy director of the Alaska Division of Personnel and Labor Relations in the state Department of Administration. The board approves changes to state work rules such as promotion, pay and leave regulations.
Meanwhile, many ethics complaints filed against state employees -- accusing someone of driving a state vehicle after hours, say, or of providing rude service -- get handled by ethics supervisors inside the different state departments. The Personnel Board gets a summary report but is not involved.
It's the unusual case that becomes a big job requiring extra board meetings.
"Most all of these things get resolved before or at the accusation stage," said assistant attorney general Judy Bockmon. "Very few matters have actually gone to hearing."
Palin explicitly waived her right to confidentiality in her complaint to the Personnel Board. But days later, the McCain-Palin campaign said the investigation would remain secret at the request of Petumenos.
"The governor will respect that request, but will explore the means by which confidentiality may be waived once the investigation is complete," said Stapleton.
In two recent letters to Anchorage lawyer Meg Simonian, who was threatening a lawsuit to force more public scrutiny, Petumenos said the investigation had spread to other officials and other complaints.
"The Governor does not have the right, under such circumstances, to waive the right of confidentiality for others," Petumenos wrote. But he tried to reassure Simonian about the eventual release of the investigation.
"The Board is ... mindful of the public interest and the interest in the credibility to its processes that public disclosure would provide," Petumenos said.
Simonian, a registered Democrat who said she is pursuing the matter out of personal interest, said Monday she wants Petumenos to tease out the parts of his report involving Palin, so that those parts of the upcoming Personnel Board meetings can be public -- if, indeed, the board is discussing that topic.
"I'm in this bind where nobody knows what the board is doing," Simonian said.
Find Tom Kizzia online at adn.com/contact/tkizzia or call him at 1-907-235-4244.
Breaking News from the Anchorge Daily News
Board's Troopergate probe casts wider net
ETHICS: Investigator hasn't said who else may be under scrutiny.
By TOM KIZZIA
tkizzia@adn.com
Published: October 13th, 2008 11:08 PM
Last Modified: October 13th, 2008 10:58 AM
The state Personnel Board investigation of Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of Walt Monegan has broadened to include other ethics complaints against the governor and examination of actions by other state employees, according to the independent counsel handling the case.
The investigator, Tim Petumenos, did not say who else is under scrutiny. But in two recent letters describing his inquiry, he cited the consolidation of complaints and the involvement of other officials as a reason for not going along with Palin's request to make the examination of her activities more public.
Two other ethics complaints involving Palin are known. One, by activist Andree McLeod, alleges that state hiring practices were circumvented for a Palin supporter. The case is not related to Monegan's firing. The other, by the Public Safety Employees Association, alleges that trooper Mike Wooten's personnel file was illegally breached by state officials.
John Cyr, the PSEA executive director, said Monday the union plans to amend its complaint to be sure the board investigates "harassment" of Wooten as well.
Petumenos has not spoken to the press, in keeping with the secrecy of the state process. But he gave a rough description of the investigation's course in two letters to an Anchorage attorney threatening a lawsuit over Palin's effort to waive confidentiality.
Attention is turning this week to the Personnel Board -- the state's official avenue for investigating ethics complaints -- after release of the Legislature's Troopergate investigation last Friday. The Legislature's investigator concluded that Palin was within her rights to fire Monegan as public safety commissioner, but abused her power and broke the ethics law in joining her husband to push for the firing of Wooten, who was once married to the governor's sister.
Palin reversed an earlier pledge and refused to cooperate with the Legislature's investigation, calling it politically biased. In an unusual twist, she filed the ethics complaint against herself before the board, saying she hoped to "clear the air" by an inquiry through proper channels. She asked the board to decide if she broke ethics laws or acted improperly in dismissing Monegan or in dealing with Wooten -- basically the same ground Branchflower covered.
Petumenos has requested a copy of Friday's legislative report, including confidential backup material, said Sen. Kim Elton, D-Juneau, chairman of the Legislative Council. Elton said the council will meet Thursday to vote on whether to give Petumenos all the material gathered by its investigator, Steve Branchflower.
Petumenos was hired by the Personnel Board to handle the case because the state attorney general's office, which normally investigates ethics charges, would have a conflict investigating the governor.
Under the state's inscrutable system for investigating official ethics complaints, there's no way to tell how long Petumenos' investigation might take. The Personnel Board, made up of three gubernatorial appointees, has meetings scheduled for Oct. 20 and Nov. 3. Agendas for those meetings mention confidential ethics matters to be handled in executive session.
Nor is there any certainty, if the complaints are settled or dismissed, that the results of the investigation will ever be made public. A review of recent Personnel Board cases, however, suggests it's likely most information will eventually be released.
Palin has been involved in Personnel Board investigations before -- though not as a subject of complaint -- and at the time complained about their secrecy.
In high-profile cases that established her statewide reputation as an ethics reformer, Palin helped with a 2003 investigation of Republican Party chairman Randy Ruedrich, who was working on a state oil regulatory panel, and she co-filed a complaint in 2004 against then-attorney general Gregg Renkes.
Both men were found by investigators to have crossed ethical lines. Details of the investigations were released in the end, as part of a settlement that stopped short of the full public hearing before an administrative law judge that the law requires in serious cases.
In the Ruedrich case, Palin resigned her state job in protest while the investigation was still secret, saying she felt implicated in a cover-up because of the shroud.
"I'd like to find a hero in the Legislature who can take on and change that law and make it more sensible," Palin said at the time she resigned. As governor, she has supported changes to ethics laws, but the secrecy of board investigations has not been changed.
Palin fired Monegan in July and the legislative inquiry began later that month.
Four days after her Aug. 29 selection as John McCain's Republican vice presidential candidate, Palin's lawyer filed an official ethics complaint over the Monegan affair with the Personnel Board, urging the Legislature to give way. The Legislature refused, creating parallel investigations.
Judging from Petumenos' letters on the case, he feels able to range as broadly as Branchflower into subjects related to the original ethics complaints.
One element will distinguish the Personnel Board inquiry: It will have Palin's cooperation.
Sarah and Todd Palin have agreed to be interviewed by Petumenos at the end of next week, said Meg Stapleton, a spokeswoman for the McCain-Palin campaign. She said Monday she has no other details of the arrangement.
There's another distinction: While the Legislature's inquiry ended last Friday with vague talk of further action, the official investigation can bring legal consequences under the state ethics law.
The three current members of the Personnel Board were appointed by Gov. Frank Murkowski. Palin reappointed one, Debra English of Anchorage, last January.
The three unsalaried appointees usually handle less momentous matters at quarterly lunch meetings, said Dianne Kiesel, deputy director of the Alaska Division of Personnel and Labor Relations in the state Department of Administration. The board approves changes to state work rules such as promotion, pay and leave regulations.
Meanwhile, many ethics complaints filed against state employees -- accusing someone of driving a state vehicle after hours, say, or of providing rude service -- get handled by ethics supervisors inside the different state departments. The Personnel Board gets a summary report but is not involved.
It's the unusual case that becomes a big job requiring extra board meetings.
"Most all of these things get resolved before or at the accusation stage," said assistant attorney general Judy Bockmon. "Very few matters have actually gone to hearing."
Palin explicitly waived her right to confidentiality in her complaint to the Personnel Board. But days later, the McCain-Palin campaign said the investigation would remain secret at the request of Petumenos.
"The governor will respect that request, but will explore the means by which confidentiality may be waived once the investigation is complete," said Stapleton.
In two recent letters to Anchorage lawyer Meg Simonian, who was threatening a lawsuit to force more public scrutiny, Petumenos said the investigation had spread to other officials and other complaints.
"The Governor does not have the right, under such circumstances, to waive the right of confidentiality for others," Petumenos wrote. But he tried to reassure Simonian about the eventual release of the investigation.
"The Board is ... mindful of the public interest and the interest in the credibility to its processes that public disclosure would provide," Petumenos said.
Simonian, a registered Democrat who said she is pursuing the matter out of personal interest, said Monday she wants Petumenos to tease out the parts of his report involving Palin, so that those parts of the upcoming Personnel Board meetings can be public -- if, indeed, the board is discussing that topic.
"I'm in this bind where nobody knows what the board is doing," Simonian said.
Find Tom Kizzia online at adn.com/contact/tkizzia or call him at 1-907-235-4244.
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