I'm not one normally to really engage in criticism with the Democratic party, but when I just got a fundraising call from the DNC to help contribute to a National Media Campaign to support "Health Reform" I had to turn them down. Respectfully, I declined any support, and the wallet is shut until I see someone put the Baucus' and Conrad's in their place where they belong, at the back of the room instead of head of the table.
If the DNC or even Obama thinks they'll get my support for some craptacular effort that ends up hurting everyone in the process but the Insurance Companies, they have another thing coming...
We're worked so hard as supporters and donors to build what they've always said they'd need, a true blue majority with little doubt of whose in control, yet they compromise their ideas for no reason at all and disappoint their voters.
I've been following the progression of the H1N1 Swine Flu closely all week because one of my primary job functions is to forecast demand for a large consumer products company. Further, we've seen some dip in sales this week, as the media has been focused on the potential pandemic in our midst. This is freightening from a business perspective, and as of yet, the reality of what may soon befall us hasn't hit home yet.
It just did, and it's scary as hell.
My 34 yr old sister is a 3rd grade teacher in a medium sized town in a state with no confirmed cases. Any teacher anywhere could at this point have been exposed to the H1N1 virus. Between the 2-7 day incubation period and the time it takes to actually confirm the virus infection, with the pathetic capacity of having 2 labs in all of N. America to actually run the tests, a case of sniffles on Tuesday morning could be swine flu for the whole class by Wednesday afternoon.
You start to realize there may be no stopping this and the world around us is about to change in ways we cannot yet comprehend.
The World Health Organization says there are now 40 confirmed cases of swine flu in the United States and that it "very concerned" about the disease's spread.
WHO says none of the cases in the U.S. have been fatal.
But the U.N. agency says it could decide in a matter of hours whether to raise its pandemic alert level as a result of the increasing number of confirmed swine flu cases in Mexico and elsewhere.
the Dow has never helped the middle class get healthcare... instead the continous drive for "profit" created death by spreadsheet.
the Dow didn't give me or you or my mom a raise... instead the continious drive for "profit" capped the income of the working class
the Dow didn't create my job... instead it caused my neighbor to lose his job as it was shipped to India in the seek of "profit"
the Dow won't save my job... instead it may kill it... so today, as it drops, I say FUCK the dow because finally the greedy bastards on Wall Street are feeling the heat that we've been living in for decades.
Edit: Please Don't comment unless you actually read the diary...
Obama today himself said to the audience in Ft. Meyers that they're doing their best, and based on whether they succeed or fail in the Stimulus/Bail Out, they'll ultimately be judged by the public and voters with reelection or retirement. I, like many here, don't really know what to make of the Treasury Secretaries sketchy unveiling today, but in the Financial Times, they pull no punches... Martin Wolf pulls no punches but he does ask the tough questions and challenges the current mode of thinking... I'll highlight what matters and encourage you to read the rest.
Has Barack Obama’s presidency already failed? In normal times, this would be a ludicrous question. But these are not normal times. They are times of great danger.
What is needed? The answer is: focus and ferocity. If Mr Obama does not fix this crisis, all he hopes from his presidency will be lost. If he does, he can reshape the agenda. Hoping for the best is foolish. He should expect the worst and act accordingly.
You make it sound as if Dr. Gupta will be creating health policy... as if he'll have a chance to set an agenda, send a favor to Pharma, do some negative harm to the public health.
Let me explain to you in the simplest terms I can exactly what the Surgeon General does: SALES!!!
And as any good salesman will tell you, they're not responsible for the product they're shilling, their bosses are, and in this case the Bossman is Barack Obama with the Direct Report incoming secretary Tom Daschle.
Incoming US president Barack Obama discussed the financial crisis and other problems with top world leaders ahead of his first public comments Friday since his election triumph.
After making the first key appointment to his administration, Obama spoke by telephone with the leaders of Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Mexico and South Korea, hastening the shift in political gravity away from President George W. Bush.
AFP solicited statements from the capitals of each of these nations and these were the topics covered. Notice the subject mix, including hot topics like Climate Change with nearly everyone... Expect action on that front quickly in 2009
Mandate? I got your mandate.... How about a nice Exclamation point for the end result of the 2008 election.
North Carolina brought the tally to 364 earlier today, and while Missouri is anyone's guess, it does appear that Omaha and it's 2nd Congressional District may yet split off for the first time and deliver one additional electorial vote for Obama, this one being from the dark red heartland...
I find this story, on today, election day, particularly insightful, heart warming and inspiring.
I'm embedded with the military in Saddam's Presidential Palace and sent in my absentee ballot - for Obama - weeks ago. One of my colleagues [contractor, retired military] strongly supports McCain-Palin, believes Obama is a Muslim, etc. He told me he wasn't going to send in the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot because someone told him it wouldn't be counted unless the election was close. Well, that's not true. They do, eventually, count all the valid ballots for the official totals, issued several weeks later.
I showed him how to print one out [from fvap.gov] and encouraged him to participate, no matter what. Even though we disagree on the candidates, he really appreciated my taking the time to ensure that he sent in his vote. Even if, in the end, his state does not count his ballot [maybe he should have requested an absentee ballot in advance, and maybe he didn't; I don't know], it's important to me that everyone have a voice in this election.
The University of Florida in Gainesville is home to one of the country’s largest McCain student groups, with more than 1,000 members. Some of its volunteers stand for nine hours a day in a central campus plaza, pitching to students and selling T-shirts, their only source of campaign money.
The Obama group on campus, though, has hired a shuttle bus to drive Obama-supporting students to an early voting site 20 minutes away.
“Obviously, we don’t have the resources for that kind of thing,” said Joshua Simmons, 20, the chairman of Gators for McCain. “Right now, we’re just making sure that students know that this organization does exist, and that there are students out there who support McCain.”
Yesterday I published a diary openly questioning the math used by the Rasmussen reports and here is today's new numbers:
Obama: 51% (50%)
McCain: 46% (47%)
This will make Drudge very unhappy, but I think that after Chris Bowers and I questioned their method, they do have a blurb in the Sub. section worth reading:
Voter Turnout: In addition to weighting our polling sample by partisan identification and other factors, Rasmussen Reports also looks at a person’s interest in the campaign and other factors to estimate the likelihood of voting. For example, someone who is following the campaign on a daily basis is considered more likely to vote than someone who says they have no interest in the campaign. Some who says they are certain to vote is considered more likely to vote than someone who says something might come up to prevent them from voting. See results for these questions by candidate preference, gender, age, party, ideology, and race.
Scott Rasmussen's polling today has alot of people talking but something about it is way out of whack. The key initial starting place is this point
For polling data released during the week of October 26 to November 1, 2008, the partisan weighting targets used by Rasmussen Reports will be 40.0% Democratic, 32.8% Republican, and 27.2% unaffiliated.
This is a very precise measurement of the electorate, one which is to the decimal place. In his internal subscribers section, the following party breakdown is offered.
Dem Rep Indy
Obama 85% 11% 50%
McCain 13% 87% 45%
Open up an excel sheet and confirm my math, but when you multiply the party id % with the individual levels of support, I find the poll shows the following:
It's been written here and elswhere how the Florida Early voting situation is disenfranchising thousands if not millions of voters by limiting the number of operational hours per day, at the legislative direction of the Republican State Legislature.
Gov. Charlie Christ, reportedly lukewarm to McCain, just changed all that, and we should celebrate this one.
“Gov. Charlie Crist on Tuesday afternoon issued an order expanding the hours of early voting up to 12 hours a day through Sunday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
“At a news conference, Crist said the right to vote is sacred and that "Many have fought and died for this right." He said he consulted a leading Democratic legislator, Rep. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach, before issuing his order.
“As to the perception that more early voting helps Democrats, Crist said: "This is not a political decision. This is a people decision"
I woke up this morning and was stunned to see the reliable dKos RS2000 poll showing Obama pulling down a +5 Day yesterday... WFT you know, how? Well, Rasmussen also showed some tightening, but as it always happens, there is very conflicting evidence as Obama has expanded in Gallup and flatlined in Hotline
Obama's 10-point lead among expanded likely voters matches his largest leads on this basis. It also ties his standing among all registered voters, who now favor Obama over McCain, 52% to 42%.
If you want a shock poll, a poll that confirms your suspicions and dreams that Obama is on his way to victory, a poll that reinforces the trends, then this is a SHOCK POLL for you....
After trailing by 10 points in U.S. rural areas, Democrat Barack Obama is neck-and-neck with Republican John McCain among rural voters in 13 swing states, a potentially key group for winning the White House, according to a poll released on Thursday.
Obama was supported by 46 percent and McCain by 45 percent of 841 likely voters surveyed from October 5-21, as U.S. financial turmoil deepened, according to the poll commissioned by the nonpartisan Center for Rural Strategies in Whitesburg, Kentucky.
This poll represents a seismic shift in the electorate, one which is heart warming and hope instilling... this is a poll that leaves my jaw on the ground. If I had to say one place was safe for McCain, I'd of said it was Rural America.
I've seen ads and I've seen ads that work and I've seen ads that don't work and well, this ad is simply gloriously devastating in ways that actually explain current polling.
Obama's newest negative spot shifts away from health care policy and attacks McCain's temperament head-on.
The unreleased ad, which aired in at least Virginia, quotes newspaper descriptions of McCain having "careened from stance to stance," been "erratic," and "poured gasoline on the economic mess."
"Yes, McCain's been erratic. What he hasn't been is on your side," says the narrator.
