Happy birthday Senator Ted Stevens, you’re fired!

Many have wondered whether Sarah Palin would run for the Senator Ted Stevens’ Senate seat if he were to be expelled from the Senate due to his recent conviction related to more than $250K in gifts he accepted. Well this is a moot point now:

Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest serving Republican in Senate history, narrowly lost his re-election bid Tuesday, marking the downfall of a Washington political power and Alaska icon who couldn’t survive a conviction on federal corruption charges. His defeat by Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich moves Senate Democrats within two seats of a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority. Source: Huffington Post

That’s one heck of a birthday present, but it looks as if the people of Alaska have spoken. I have to admit that it seems crazy that the race was actually this close. I mean, after all Senator Stevens was actually convicted of this crime before the election even took place. It’s amazing that a U.S. Senator can be proven of having extremely bad judgment at least, and a crook at worst, and the people would actually still almost vote him back in!

As for Governor Palin, it looks like she will have to find another way to Washington. The next Alaskan Senate seat is Lisa Murkowski’s seat, whose term won’t be up until 2011. It looks like Palin might as well stay in Alaska as governor, run for reelection in 2010, and go from there.

Of course Palin can always go to change.gov and fill out an application for the Obama Administration. However, my gut tells me that she won’t be willing to submit to the necessary disclosures in order to get the job.

What do you think?

Filed under: Alaska, Alaska Corruption, Local Politics, Mark Begich, Politics News, Politics-Economics, Sarah Palin, Senate Races, Senator Ted Stevens, Ted Stevens, Ted Stevens Corruption

Sen. Ted Kennedy to submit bill: Universal healthcare may become a reality in the U.S.

I am a proponent for universal healthcare in this country, because I have seen first hand what can happen when people don’t have access to healthcare when they need it. Consequently, I’m glad that Senator Ted Kennedy plans to do something about it:

Kennedy has a head start on them all. Despite his illness, he directed his staff months ago to begin work on legislation that would vastly expand health coverage, a career-long goal of his. […]

“There’s some major issues, obviously, the economy and also environmental issues,” Kennedy said on his way to a staff meeting, where he was greeted with cheers. “But the president-elect has indicated that this is going to be a priority, and I certainly hope it will.” Source: Washington Post

I completely understand the many concerns that people have about moving to universal healthcare. In spite of this, I still think that we will be better off in the long run.

The health insurance industry in this country is a racket, and this needs to be changed. People can pay their insurance premiums for years, and when they need their insurance company to be there for them, the company does everything they can to cheat them out of their benefits.

For those people who would prefer not to participate in universal healthcare, they should have the option to purchase private insurance. Of course, the purchase of private insurance shouldn’t mean that they don’t have to pay into the system via taxes.

After all, even if your children go to private school, or if you don’t have children, your property taxes still go toward the public school system. People seem willing to accept this concept when it comes to the public schooling systems in this country, so why not with healthcare?

Filed under: Barack Obama, By Cheri Thomas, health insurance, healthcare, Politics-Economics, Senator Edward Kennedy, Universal healthcare

The real cost of the war in Iraq; the one that you can’t put a price tag on

I know this photograph is disturbing; it is MEANT to be disturbing. Look at this child, this baby, and DO NOT turn away. We all need to see the price of war, the one that doesn’t have a dollar sign attached to it.

As I look upon the face of this innocent young child, whose life was lost in a car bombing, I weep. I weep for all of the lives lost, but especially the innocent young children who have had their lives snatched before they had barely begun.

Thank you Andrew Sullivan for posting this image, and I agree with your decision to post it:

We need to see the evil that we unwittingly unleashed in Iraq and the evil that will doubtless take hold the minute we leave. It is part of the moral equation in deciding what must be done now. And it is not easy. As an advocate for withdrawal, I do not want to deny the moral costs it may involve. Source: Andrew Sullivan ~ The Atlantic

I am an advocate of pulling our troops out of Iraq, however it is also up to us to help clean up this mess that we have caused. Yes, I am saying that WE, the United States has cause a huge mess in another country that we invaded under false pretenses.

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people have been killed because of an occupation that never should have been. Even though it will probably never happen, I really wish that George W. Bush and his cronies could be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

God help us and forgive us all for our part in all of this…

Filed under: By Cheri Thomas, car bomb, Iraq war, Politics-Economics, President George W. Bush, Social Commentary

Race threats and crimes soar across America after Obama elected President

I hate to say I warned you folks, but the festering wound of racism in America appears to have had its scab ripped clean off by the election of Barack Obama as the nation’s first African American President:

Cross burnings. Schoolchildren chanting “Assassinate Obama.” Black figures hung from nooses. Racial epithets scrawled on homes and cars. Incidents around the country referring to President-elect Barack Obama are dampening the postelection glow of racial progress and harmony, highlighting the stubborn racism that remains in America.

From California to Maine, police have documented a range of alleged crimes, from vandalism and vague threats to at least one physical attack. […] There have been “hundreds” of incidents since the election, many more than usual, said Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate crimes. Source: Huffington Post

Houston, we have an effing problem! I feel like I have traveled back in time 50 or 60 years with all of these reports I’m hearing. This is also the first real acknowledgment by the mainstream media that these hate crimes are not mere isolated incidents, although ALL of the black bloggers I know have been covering these reports as they happened.

I still am in awe that is has come to this. Now even 2nd graders are calling for Obama’s assassination? What is wrong with these people? Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate crimes, tries to explain:

Potok, who is white, said he believes there is “a large subset of white people in this country who feel that they are losing everything they know, that the country their forefathers built has somehow been stolen from them.“ Source: Yahoo News

I believe wholeheartedly that this is what the whites who are acting out are feeling right now. However, I am disgusted by this sense of entitlement simply because they are white. Let us not forget that this country was built on the backs of African slave labor.

People always get pissed off when you bring up slavery, however I cannot for the life of me understand how on earth these folks think that this country that their forefathers basically stole from Native Americans, and built on the backs of African slave labor entitles them to anything. And to further suggest that was was not rightfully theirs in the first place has been stolen from them is ludicrous!

And so now I am supposed to excuse the acts of these racists because they are frustrated about their perceived loss of white privilege? Hello people! It NEVER should have been that way in the first place.

All I can say is these racist people are exactly who we always thought they were. News flash–this is just the beginning of their B.S. Mark my words…

Filed under: Barack Obama, bigots, By Cheri Thomas, cross burning, hate crimes, Issues of race and diversity, KKK, Politics-Economics, racial slurs, Racism in America

Valerie Jarrett joins Obama Admin as Senior White House Advisor

To many, it may seem as if Chicago is going to Washington, with the recent announcement that Obama has named Valerie Jarrett as Senior White House Advisor. The announcement comes on the heels of the appointment of Chicago Representative, Rahm Emmanuel as White House Chief of Staff:

President-elect Barack Obama has formally named his friend Valerie Jarrett to be a senior adviser in the White House. Her official title will be “senior advisor and assistant to the President for Inter-government relations and Public Liaison in the Obama White House,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet.

Jarrett is a co-chair of Obama’s transition team and was a top advisor to him during the presidential campaign. Source: Huffington Post

You may remember that Jarrett was mentioned as a possible replacement for Obama in the Senate. While this may have been good for Jarett’s career, I’m glad that she has chosen to continue her work with Obama.

I think that this is a great move by Obama. It is important, now more than ever, that he have an advisor who knows him well that will be able to keep him grounded. The reality is that Obama will have a lot of people with various agendas in his ear. He needs someone like Valerie Jarrett, who is not a Washington insider, to help him separate the wheat from the chaff.

Filed under: Barack Obama, By Cheri Thomas, Politics-Economics, Valerie Jarrett

Now that’s what I call vetting: Want a job in the Obama Admin? Be prepared to tell all of your business

The Obama Administration is showing folks how vetting is done! There are over 8,000 positions available for qualified applicants. And just so you know, “Qualified” includes the following:

The questionnaire includes 63 requests for personal and professional records, some covering applicants’ spouses and grown children as well, that are forcing job-seekers to rummage from basements to attics, in shoe boxes, diaries and computer archives to document both their achievements and missteps.

Only the smallest details are excluded; traffic tickets carrying fines of less than $50 need not be reported, the application says. Applicants are asked whether they or anyone in their family owns a gun. They must include any e-mail that might embarrass the president-elect, along with any blog posts and links to their Facebook pages.

The application also asks applicants to “please list all aliases or ‘handles’ you have used to communicate on the Internet.” Source: New York Times

The bottom line is that the Obama Administration is taking what some might call extreme measures to prevent any potential scandals that might embarrass the Administration. Given all of the many scandals we’ve seen in the past, I cannot blame them for making sure that they have checked the list, and checked it twice.

Ultimately what this means is that you need to seriously think twice about submitting an application if you have done any of the following in the past (Note – this is not an exhaustive list):

1. Posted questionable photos of yourself on MySpace, Facebook, or any other social networking site.
2. Posted anything online, or written anything in print that could be considered controversial or otherwise embarrassing.
3. Had an extramarital affair
4. Employed illegal immigrants in your home or business
5. Have an arrest record, or been convicted of any crimes

My advice to those who think that this application process is too intrusive? Don’t apply and seek employment elsewhere!

For those of you who would still like to apply, please visit http://www.change.gov in order to complete a letter of interest online.

Good luck!

Filed under: Barack Obama, By Cheri Thomas, Politics-Economics

Who’s the fool? We bailed them out and AIG is still throwing lavish gatherings on the taxpayer’s dime

Despite receiving a $152 billion federal bailout package just this week, AIG recently asked for even more money! As if that wasn’t bad enough, the company had the nerve to host another lavish event to the tune of $343,000 around the same time they requested additional funds:

The $343,000 conference included a number of senior AIG executives, according to KNXV-TV in Phoenix. Organizers of the three-day event made sure there were no AIG signs on the premises of the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort, in an apparent attempt to disguise the company’s involvement, the station said. Source: Baltimore Sun

Although AIG executives claim they didn’t pay for the entire event, my question is rather simple. If they though that what they were doing was appropriate, then why did they try to hide it?

Representative, Elijah Cummings echoed my sentiments in his recent criticism of AIG:

In a letter yesterday to Edward M. Liddy, AIG’s top executive, Cummings said that since taxpayers have kept the company alive, they have a right to judge AIG on its willingness to make “effective and efficient use of their money.” Citing news accounts, the congressman said that “many senior AIG executives … were observed to be working out at a spa, eating high-priced dinners, and holding cocktail parties. That a firm already reliant on taxpayers’ funding would organize such an event is outrageous.”

“You have decided to continue to hold corporate parties as if nothing has fundamentally changed with your business.”

One step AIG can take toward meeting public expectations that government funds would be used wisely, the Baltimore Democrat wrote, is “by accepting your resignation from the positions of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.” Source: Baltimore Sun

Of course this is not the first time that AIG was caught wasting big bucks, while having their hand out for a bailout! At this point not only should AIG’s CEO resign, they should give back the money we just gave them. Screw AIG, because they cannot be trusted with taxpayer money. They have proven this beyond the shadow of the doubt. Let the industry absorb the company.

I was not for the first bailout, and at this point we need to STOP bailing out companies. Not the auto industry, not the banking industry, NOBODY should get a bailout. At the end of the day these companies are blowing the money and not using it for what it was intended for, and leaving the taxpayers to foot the bill.

The way I see it, the economy is going downhill fast anyway, so why should we put more money in the pockets of wasteful corporate executives just to delay the inevitable?

Filed under: AIG, bailout, By Cheri Thomas, Politics-Economics