All last week, OFA volunteers, energized from the House vote on the health insurance reform bill, said thank you to Arizona’s members of Congress that supported health insurance reform. Thursday and Friday, volunteers intensified their efforts and held events all over the state. From Sierra Vista to Flagstaff, supporters got out into the community and let their appreciation and support be known.
In Flagstaff, Northern Arizona University students Emily, Aleks, Blekk, and Blaise got a life saver floatation device and went out on NAU’s campus. They asked students to sign the life saver and call Rep. Kirkpatrick office thanking her for her support.
In Prescott, Sierra Vista and Scottsdale, volunteers went directly to the Congressional Offices. They brought with them thank you notes expressing their sincerest appreciation and passed them along to the staff of Rep. Kirkpatrick, Rep. Giffords, and Rep. Mitchell.
In Sedona and Tucson, supporters held rallies on street corners waving signs and American flags. Rep. Giffords made a surprise appearance at the Tucson rally and took time to speak and take pictures with the crowd. She spoke about the importance of health insurance reform legislation and how hearing from her constituents played a critical role in helping her make her decision.
Please contact your Representative and Senators by CLICKING HERE. Let them know you support health insurance reform and you want them to support it as well. Then CLICK HERE to sign up for an upcoming health care event and join the fight to pass ground breaking health care reform.
Check out this slide show of pictures from all the “Thank You” Events.
This week’s Arizona Volunteer Spotlight is Michelle M. Michelle lives in Fountain Hills and is a graduate of Camp OFA. She has been working relentlessly in her community, fostering neighborhood teams and getting the word out about the importance of health insurance reform.
I have been a volunteer at Maricopa Medical Center since January 2008. I received the Presidential Volunteer Service Award for my work there. I also completed the Spanish Bilingual Assistant program at the hospital. This work hopefully prepares me for my future as a primary care doctor working in under-served areas. I am also currently the Parent Chair for the Project Challenge of Arizona. This is a residential, National Guard program that works with at risk youths and helps them achieve GEDs or high school diplomas as well completing extensive community service projects. My son went through Project Challenge in 2007. I am a single mom who is in the process of applying to medical school with two teenagers. I am also applying to the Center for Progressive Leader's Fellowship in the hopes of learning how to be a more effective community organizer. I meditate every morning and I do yoga to relieve stress! I am currently taking Biochemistry and Women as HeBler's Across Cultures at ASU. I am also a Mentor in the President Obama Scholar's Program that ASU installed in our president's honor. I graduated Summa Cum Laude from ASU and Barack Obama was my graduation speaker. I love wine and hanging out at the Farm at South Mountain.
1. How long have you been volunteering with OFA? I started in August of 2009. 2. Why did you get involved volunteering with OFA? I remember last spring hearing Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee speak about health care reform and she said doctors needed to step up to the plate and take a seat at the table. She kept asking, "Who wants a seat at this table?" I remember wanting to hide under a table at that point! I kept thinking, someone else will fix this. Then, the heinous displays by opponents of health care reform at Congressional town halls this summer made me sick to my stomach. I think it was when I saw a man get bit on the arm, I said that was it. I wanted to just help with voter registration one day, but I got lost and had to get directions. I spoke to Ashley, an OFA Regional Director, and she told me about Camp OFA, which was starting in 45 minutes. I went to the training, and decided to make Fountain Hills a friendly home for President Obama and OFA. 3. What are some of the more effective practices you have found that work in getting people mobilized with OFA? When people come to my house to phone bank, I ask them to do one simple thing: find themselves on the list I have given them. In Fountain Hills especially, people think they are all alone. I continuously remind people that I live there and THEY live there, and that I have a room full of other people who are of like mind. I also find commonality. The first thing I tell people is I am a local Fountain Hills resident calling them. They feel more at home speaking to me. I have a positive attitude about who I am calling. I know I am going to find my next great volunteer each time I pick up the phone. We usually do get a few new people signing on board with us each phone bank. 4. What has been the highlight of your time volunteering with OFA? I would have to say the new friends I am making. I love the little snowflake we are creating in Fountain Hills. There is a core group of four of us that always shows up and we are increasing every week. Lolita, Gary, Susan and myself. We are quite the force. I have also enjoyed all the young and powerful energy in the leadership from OFA. You guys are the best and doing great things! Also, it was pretty cool being asked to be a judge on the panel for the new health care reform commercial. My daughter and I picked our favorites tonight. For one brief moment I was cool to my 16 year old. 5. What issue/issues matters most to you and why? Health Care Reform. I always knew I wanted to be a care giver to people that traditionally did not have access to good medical services. Lately, I have realized that I don't want to have to choose who I can care for and who I can't care for based on whether they have insurance or not. I won't make that choice! I am working my tail off now to help reform pass, so that by the time I am a doctor, I can step up to the plate and take care of all the folks who will have affordable health care! When people say, "who is going to take care of all these people," I can say, I will. I am also looking forward to helping the climate change bill get back on track and working with clean energy. Basically I am for the President's agenda, and will help to the best of my ability.
1. How long have you been volunteering with OFA?
I started in August of 2009.
2. Why did you get involved volunteering with OFA?
I remember last spring hearing Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee speak about health care reform and she said doctors needed to step up to the plate and take a seat at the table. She kept asking, "Who wants a seat at this table?" I remember wanting to hide under a table at that point! I kept thinking, someone else will fix this. Then, the heinous displays by opponents of health care reform at Congressional town halls this summer made me sick to my stomach. I think it was when I saw a man get bit on the arm, I said that was it. I wanted to just help with voter registration one day, but I got lost and had to get directions. I spoke to Ashley, an OFA Regional Director, and she told me about Camp OFA, which was starting in 45 minutes. I went to the training, and decided to make Fountain Hills a friendly home for President Obama and OFA.
3. What are some of the more effective practices you have found that work in getting people mobilized with OFA?
When people come to my house to phone bank, I ask them to do one simple thing: find themselves on the list I have given them. In Fountain Hills especially, people think they are all alone. I continuously remind people that I live there and THEY live there, and that I have a room full of other people who are of like mind. I also find commonality. The first thing I tell people is I am a local Fountain Hills resident calling them. They feel more at home speaking to me. I have a positive attitude about who I am calling. I know I am going to find my next great volunteer each time I pick up the phone. We usually do get a few new people signing on board with us each phone bank.
4. What has been the highlight of your time volunteering with OFA?
I would have to say the new friends I am making. I love the little snowflake we are creating in Fountain Hills. There is a core group of four of us that always shows up and we are increasing every week. Lolita, Gary, Susan and myself. We are quite the force. I have also enjoyed all the young and powerful energy in the leadership from OFA. You guys are the best and doing great things! Also, it was pretty cool being asked to be a judge on the panel for the new health care reform commercial. My daughter and I picked our favorites tonight. For one brief moment I was cool to my 16 year old.
5. What issue/issues matters most to you and why?
Health Care Reform. I always knew I wanted to be a care giver to people that traditionally did not have access to good medical services. Lately, I have realized that I don't want to have to choose who I can care for and who I can't care for based on whether they have insurance or not. I won't make that choice! I am working my tail off now to help reform pass, so that by the time I am a doctor, I can step up to the plate and take care of all the folks who will have affordable health care! When people say, "who is going to take care of all these people," I can say, I will.
I am also looking forward to helping the climate change bill get back on track and working with clean energy. Basically I am for the President's agenda, and will help to the best of my ability.
Monday morning after the historic vote in the House, Arizona health care supporters wasted no time thanking their members of Congress for supporting health care reform. In the Congressional Districts of Rep Ed Pastor, Rep Harry Mitchell and Rep Raúl Grijalva, supporters headed over to their member’s offices to personally show their appreciation.
Armed with smiles and homemade thank you cards, supporters met with Congressional staffers and expressed their deepest gratitude.
Congressional staffers were very receptive as well, and took some time to talk with the health care supporters and explain the upcoming legislative process.
CLICK HERE to find upcoming Thank You events. CLICK HERE to write a letter to the editor and make your voice heard.
The passion for passing health insurance reform is growing. Just recently the Fountain Hills Times printed an array of the letters they have been receiving. Below are three of the letters they printed.
Reign In Costs by Dave Long
It is exciting to know that maybe, just maybe, the U.S. is now finally on the verge of reigning in health care costs, eliminating the pre-existing condition stigma and setting up a system that makes quality health care available to every one of our fellow citizens. Today, for those who can afford health insurance, premiums (and insurance company profits) increase unabated. For the millions, who are not insured (including the working poor), the lack of preventative care and postponed treatment of illnesses ultimately ends in much more costly emergency room treatment or worse -- premature death. The bills now before Congress reveal several paths out of the morass of the health care system we have today. It is a once in a (healthy) lifetime opportunity to fix a broken and expensive system.
It is exciting to know that maybe, just maybe, the U.S. is now finally on the verge of reigning in health care costs, eliminating the pre-existing condition stigma and setting up a system that makes quality health care available to every one of our fellow citizens.
Today, for those who can afford health insurance, premiums (and insurance company profits) increase unabated.
For the millions, who are not insured (including the working poor), the lack of preventative care and postponed treatment of illnesses ultimately ends in much more costly emergency room treatment or worse -- premature death.
The bills now before Congress reveal several paths out of the morass of the health care system we have today. It is a once in a (healthy) lifetime opportunity to fix a broken and expensive system.
Public Option by Steve Hoover
Everyone agrees that health care coverage is too expensive. Everyone agrees that we must do something quickly and that our economy is in peril if we don’t. Too many have health care nightmare stories. Obviously our healthcare system needs serious reform. Decades of dithering and lack of performance on the part of our elected officials has allowed this situation to spiral out of control. Finally, someone has demonstrated the leadership skills and guts to make serious health care reform a reality. I am a registered Republican, and I support President Obama’s Health Care Reform plan with a public option.
Everyone agrees that health care coverage is too expensive.
Everyone agrees that we must do something quickly and that our economy is in peril if we don’t.
Too many have health care nightmare stories. Obviously our healthcare system needs serious reform.
Decades of dithering and lack of performance on the part of our elected officials has allowed this situation to spiral out of control.
Finally, someone has demonstrated the leadership skills and guts to make serious health care reform a reality.
I am a registered Republican, and I support President Obama’s Health Care Reform plan with a public option.
Healthy Reform by Dorothy Verbal
Last week I was calling from a phone bank in Fountain Hills. Our objective was to notify residents that a call to their representative and senator would show support for President Obama’s plan for health insurance reform. It is important that our representatives are aware that many citizens support the reform plan with the public option because this will insure health care coverage for all Americans. We are the richest country in the world and yet 40 million people are uninsured. This number does not include the poor who, by the way, are covered by Medicaid. Hooray for President Obama for putting forth the effort! We should match his effort with our own.
Last week I was calling from a phone bank in Fountain Hills. Our objective was to notify residents that a call to their representative and senator would show support for President Obama’s plan for health insurance reform.
It is important that our representatives are aware that many citizens support the reform plan with the public option because this will insure health care coverage for all Americans.
We are the richest country in the world and yet 40 million people are uninsured. This number does not include the poor who, by the way, are covered by Medicaid.
Hooray for President Obama for putting forth the effort! We should match his effort with our own.
Letters like there have been making a difference call across Arizona. Here is your chance to have your voice heard. CLICK HERE to write a letter to the editor.
It was a pleasure to greet those of you who came to discuss the Health Care Policy Options with Judy Pelham at Tom Haas Studio yesterday, in Phoenix, Arizona. The GOOD NEWS is that all of you (and your friends) can easily access her Primary Resource: www.randcompare.org
RAND Corporation’s COMPARE project (Comprehensive Assessment of Reform Efforts) is an online tool to synthesize what is known about the current healthcare system; provides information on proposals to modify the system; and provides insights into how potential policy changes are likely to affect health care delivery, insurance coverage, spending, consumer financial risk, health, and costs.
As many of you know, Judy Pelham has been a leader and recognized pioneer in developing programs to improve the health status of communities for 20 years, particularly for the poor and underserved. She championed the "intelligent network", designed to encourage partnerships and the development and sharing of best practices throughout the system. She was president and CEO of Mercy Health Services (1993-2000) and later served as leader of Trinity Health--the third largest Catholic health system in the United States. She's also served as the chairperson of the Washington, D.C.-based Coalition for Nonprofit Health Care.Judy was a volunteer consultant on the COMPARE project. I trust you’ll find its website interesting and helpful.
Vicki Haas, Learn Debate Advocate Event Host, artist@tom-haas.com
For far too long, we the people have been caring the load for the wealty, (8 years). It is time for them to losen up their pocket books, and contibute to the economy of the Untied States.
The large Corporation who have spent all the money on their own selfish needs, and have shipped jobs overseas, while receiving tax credits and loop holes, which has left us in a mess.
ENOUGH, IS ENOUGH.
Please, President Obama stick to the principles you have outlined for what our country, and the growth of the Middle Class.
Dee Ellsworth
First it was the VP drama. Now it's the SOS drama. And the Clinton's continue to dominate the news cycle.
Who won this election anyway? Where is the famous Obama discipline? And what is all the "negotiation" about? Why do the Clintons get to decide which which of their skeletons will be vetted and which will not? Give me a break! Obama is showing incredible weakness by continuing once again to pander/placate (whatever) to the Clintons. And whatever happened to the concept of change? Real change?
I JUST RECEIVED THIS EMAIL - CHECK IT OUT - WHOEVER DID THIS IS BRILLIANT!!! (disregard the Obama will Lose Subject line)
From: staff@electjohnmccain2008.com
Subject: Obama Will Lose!
Date: October 27, 2008 6:15:22 PM MST
Reply-To: staff@electjohnmccain2008.com
My friends, it's not looking too good for my plans for the White House. But, there is still time! Here's some specific things YOU can do to help ME get elected:
1. Take a look at my bold, maverick plan for Iraq. Then pass it on. If you're lucky, your family could be part of the solution in Iraq:
http://electjohnmccain2008.com/iraq_plan.html
2. Pay no attention to Republicans like General Colin Powell or Scott McClellan who have recently endorsed Barack Obama. And, please don't consider the fact that more US troops have contributed to Obama's campaign than to mine. My friends, I assure you, if I'm elected, not only will I finish the job in Iraq...I will also send troops to finally finish the job in Vietnam!
3. Finally, please take a gander at my favorite News and Youtubes:
http://electjohnmccain2008.com/more_news.html
*Don't forget: Obama is a Muslim, Arab, Terrorist, Socialist, Communist, Homosexual Elitist who wants to tax the air you breath and send the money to Al Qaeda! With your help, my friends, Obama will lose!
May God bless America's Wars for Peace!
EXCELLENT ARTICLE - PASS IT ON!
John McCain's campaign has directed $175,000 to the firm of a Republican operative accused of massive voter registration fraud in several states.
According to campaign finance records, a joint committee of the McCain-Palin campaign, the RNC and the the California Republican Party, made a $175,000 payment to the group Lincoln Strategy in June for purposes of "registering voters." The managing partner of that firm is Nathan Sproul, a renowned GOP operative who has been investigated on multiple occasions for suppressing Democratic voter turnout, throwing away registration forms and even spearheading efforts to get Ralph Nader on ballots to hinder the Democratic ticket.
In a letter to the Justice Department last October, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers said that that Sproul's alleged activities "clearly suppress votes and violate the law."
That Sproul would come under the employment umbrella of the McCain campaign -- the Republican National Committee has also separately paid Lincoln Strategy at least $37,000 for voter registration efforts this cycle -- is not terribly surprising. Sproul, who has donated nearly $30,000 to McCain's campaign, has been in the good graces of GOP officials for the past decade despite charges of ethical and potentially legal wrongdoing.
But his involvement with the Republican Party's voter registration efforts has the potential to create a political and public relations headache at a time when McCain can ill-afford one. For weeks the Arizona Republican and his allies have been seeking to tie Barack Obama to the community organization ACORN, which they have accused of potentially committing massive voter registration fraud. Sproul's contract with the GOP ticket -- in addition to news of Republican officials attempting to suppress Democratic turnout in California -- raises, for some, questions about McCain's own efforts.
"It should certainly take away from McCain's argument," said Bob Grossfeld, a progressive political consultant based in Arizona who has followed Sproul's career. "Without knowing anything of what is going on with ACORN, there is a clear history with Mr. Sproul either going over the line or sure as hell kicking dirt on it, and doing it for profit and usually fairly substantive profit."
As Republican Congressman Chris Cannon summarized during a joint hearing for the subcommittee on commercial and administrative law back in May 2008: "The difference between ACORN and Sproul is that ACORN doesn't throw away or change registration documents after they have been filled out."
Indeed, Sproul's history is filled with allegations of political misdeeds. During the 2004 election, Sproul & Associates (the former name of Lincoln Strategy) was accused of attempting to destroy forms collected by Democratic voters in Nevada. That same year in Oregon, Sproul & Associates allegedly instructed canvassers to only accept Republican registration forms in addition to destroying those turned in by Democrats.
BY Sam Stein, Huffington Post, 10/20/08
Thousands Erroneously Tagged Ineligible to Vote --In New Databases, Many Are Wrongly Flagged as Ineligible 18 Oct 2008 Thousands of voters across the country must reestablish their eligibility in the next three weeks in order for their votes to count on Nov. 4, a result of new state registration systems that are incorrectly rejecting them. In Alabama, scores of voters are being labeled as convicted felons on the basis of incorrect lists. Michigan must restore thousands of names it illegally removed from voter rolls over residency questions, a judge ruled this week. Tens of thousands of voters could be affected in Wisconsin. Officials there admit that their database is wrong one out of five times when it flags voters, sometimes for data discrepancies as small as a middle initial or a typo in a birth date.
"When I touched the screen for Barack Obama, the check mark moved from his box to the box indicating a vote for John McCain." Early W.Va. voters angry machines kept switching their votes to GOP candidates --Jackson County touch-screens switched votes, 3 residents say 18 Oct 2008 At least three early voters in Jackson County had a hard time voting for candidates they want to win. Virginia Matheney and Calvin Thomas said touch-screen machines in the county clerk's office in Ripley kept switching their votes from Democratic to Republican candidates. "When I touched the screen for Barack Obama, the check mark moved from his box to the box indicating a vote for John McCain," said Matheney, who lives in Kenna. When she reported the problem, she said, the poll worker in charge "responded that everything was all right." [WHY are these 'voting' machines, aka GOP tools to implement Coup 2008, *still standing?*]
"I pushed buttons and they all came up Republican," she said. "I hit Obama and it switched to McCain. I am really concerned about that. If McCain wins, there was something wrong with the machines." More W.Va. voters say machines are switching votes --In six cases, Democratic votes flipped to GOP 18 Oct 2008 Three Putnam County voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from Democrats to Republicans when they cast early ballots last week. This is the second West Virginia county where voters have reported this problem. Last week, three voters in Jackson County told The Charleston Gazette their electronic vote for "Barack Obama" kept flipping to "John McCain". In both counties, Republicans are responsible for overseeing elections.
Voters say they were duped into registering as Republicans --YPM, a group hired by the GOP, allegedly deceived Californians who thought they were signing a petition. Similar accusations have been leveled against the company elsewhere. 18 Oct 2008 Dozens of newly minted Republican voters say they were duped into joining the party by a GOP contractor with a trail of fraud complaints stretching across the country. Voters contacted by The Times said they were tricked into switching parties while signing what they believed were petitions for tougher penalties against child molesters [lots of them in the GOP, btw.]. Some said they were told that they had to become Republicans to sign the petition, contrary to California initiative law. Others had no idea their registration was being changed.
'Wake up, niggers!' --Locals say the "inciting" language used by the McCain campaign in the past month has emboldened racists to act and speak more openly, leading to outbursts such as "traitor", "terrorist" and "kill him" at campaign events. 19 Oct 2008 In a small town in Oklahoma, not even loyal Democrats will vote for a black man. Kristi Balden woke up at 4.30am to the sound of screeching tyres and yells of "nigger lover!" As she looked out of the window, a vehicle sped away with spinning wheels, peppering her parked car with gravel. She saw her Barack Obama yard sign in shreds on the lawn. It was the fifth time in three weeks her signs backing Obama had been vandalised. Elsewhere in the small town of Enid, in northwestern Oklahoma, more than 50 other residents have had their Obama signs smashed to pieces, and cars with bumper stickers that bear the black presidential candidate’s name have been splattered with eggs. Late one night three weeks ago, four white youths went to a town museum that celebrates minority achievements and took down an exhibit of five Native American teepees. They dragged two of the tents around the streets of an African American neighbourhood, yelling: "Wake up, niggers!"
I just don't know how McCain can show up on the same stage with Barack Obama and not feel inadequate.
His anger, sarcasm, eye, body and hand gestures, and that dismissive comment about the "health of women", regarding the late-term abortion issue was so disrespectful and demeaning I couldn't believe it. That's the kind of thing people may think, but never would they say out loud. He did us a favor - he can forget the women's vote or what's left of it. Talk about showing your true colors.
He's a mean-spirited, twisted little man and cannot hold a candle to the statesman sitting next to him.
Obama's the ONE!!!!
Murray Waasmurraywaas@gmail.com | HuffPost Reporting From DC
McCain Transition Chief Aided Saddam In Lobbying Effort
John McCain strongly supported the 1991 military action against Iraq, and as recently as Sunday described Saddam Hussein as a one-time menace to the region who had "stated categorically that he would acquire weapons of mass destruction, and he would use them wherever he could."
Timmons declined to comment for this story. An office manager who works for him said that he has made it his practice during his public career to never speak to the press. Timmons previously told investigators that he did not know that either Vincent or Park were acting as unregistered agents of Iraq. He also insisted that he did not fully understand just how closely the two men were tied to Saddam's regime while they collaborated.
But testimony and records made public during Park's criminal trial, as well as other information uncovered during a United Nations investigation, suggest just the opposite. Virtually everything Timmons did while working on the lobbying campaign was within days conveyed by Vincent to either one or both of Saddam Hussein's top aides, Tariq Aziz and Nizar Hamdoon. Vincent also testified that he almost always relayed input from the Iraqi aides back to Timmons.
Talking points that Timmons produced for the lobbyists to help ease the sanctions, for example, were reviewed ahead of time by Aziz, Vincent testified in court. Proposals that Timmons himself circulated to U.S. officials as part of the effort were written with the assistance of the Iraqi officials, and were also sent ahead of time with Timmons' approval to Aziz, other records show.Moreover, there was a major financial incentive at play for Timmons. The multi-million dollar oil deal that he was pursuing with the two other lobbyists would only be possible if their efforts to ease sanctions against Iraq were successful.
WASHINGTON -- Since George W. Bush became president, the Republican Party has presided over massive, out-of-control government spending, converted a federal budget surplus into a half-trillion-dollar deficit, and looked the other way while Wall Street's greed and stupidity turned the hallowed free market into scorched earth. Now the party has to watch as a Republican president orchestrates the biggest government intervention into the workings of the private sector since the New Deal.
Can any Republican candidate claim with a straight face to represent the party of small government? For that matter, can any Republican candidate plausibly explain what the party is supposed to stand for these days?
It's pathetic to hear right-wing talk radio blowhards try to associate Barack Obama with "radical" or "socialist" views when a Republican administration is tossing aside "Atlas Shrugged" and speed-reading "Das Kapital."
The Federal Reserve even announced Monday that it will make unlimited quantities of dollars available for currency swaps with the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank, as these institutions scramble to keep major commercial banks from failing -- and potentially taking U.S. banks with them. None of Bush's Cabinet members could be heard sniffing about the effete irrelevance of "Old Europe."
This attitude adjustment is necessary, mind you. The question isn't whether some kind of drastic, frankly socialistic measures are needed to save the American economy, but which ones -- buying up toxic mortgage-based investments (as the White House said it would do), buying up the troubled mortgages themselves (as John McCain wants to do), or pouring money into selected banks and taking part ownership (as the White House now says it will do). Sitting back and letting the dire situation correct itself is not an option, because the market's phoenix-like solution begins with self-immolation.
Politically, though, there is at least some justice in the fact that a Republican president has to deal with this Republican-made crisis. That little piece of irony isn't worth $700 billion, but so far it's all we're getting.
After eight years of the Bush administration, the Republican Party -- to put it bluntly -- is a mess and a fraud.
There is an intellectual case to be made for the economic philosophy that the party purports to represent. I disagree with it strongly, but I respect its integrity -- in a way that this administration and the Republican leadership in Congress clearly did not.
The Republican Party said it believed in free and unfettered competition, but it picked winners and losers through a system of crony capitalism. All it takes to make my point is a name: Jack Abramoff.
The Bush tax cuts, which heavily favored the wealthy, showed that the president and his allies in Congress didn't believe in progressive taxation. I think that's outrageous, but the administration goes further and actually seems to prefer a regressive tax scheme. That's the only explanation I can think of for why hedge fund managers making hundreds of millions of dollars a year pay taxes at a lower rate than their chauffeurs.
Now that it's election time, the party -- as usual -- is trying to convince Americans that it stands on the side of the little guy. Sarah Palin has been trotted out to convince everyone that the party cares deeply about the eternal roster of cultural issues -- God, guns, gays, abortion, etc. If McCain and Palin were elected, the party would doubtless return these issues to the storage locker until the next election, at which point they would be dusted off once more.
Oh, and isn't the Republican Party supposed to stand foursquare against intrusions on privacy? Then why were Republicans so unmoved when it was revealed that the Bush administration had been conducting unprecedented surveillance of Americans' private electronic communications?
When Ronald Reagan was president, I had a sense of what ideas and principles his party stood for. When Newt Gingrich and his "Contract with America" brigade took Washington by storm in 1994, I knew what they believed -- loopy though it was -- and what they hoped to accomplish. I defy anyone to give a coherent explanation of what today's Republican Party, under George Bush and now John McCain, wants to do except perpetuate itself in power.
When a political party reaches the point of lurching incoherence, the most effective cure is a good, long spell in the wilderness. Americans should help Republicans out by sending them home to get their act together.
