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Politico parodies itself (via): The Senate, once the chamber of deliberation and reason, is getting its own extreme makeover. Moderates such as Maine Republican Olympia Snowe and Democrat Ben Nelson are bolting an institution that barely resembles the one they entered as idealistic deal makers. Ben Nelson? Idealistic dealmaker? These are words that should not be in the ... (1 comments)Despicable Quote of the Day - Icky Gay Sexytime Is A Threat To National Security
“Given the propensity for members of the homosexual community to engage in frequent and anonymous sexual encounters, the risk to national security of having a homosexual in a high-ranking position with access to secret information is obvious.” Bryan Fischer, Nutbag (0 comments)Newsweek Hearts America. Seriously. They Really F*cking Mean It.
I guess a cover featuring Uncle Sam hungrily masturbating to a painting of Jesus wearing an American flag was deemed to be insufficiently patriotic.
[Embiggen]
(1 comments)Paul Ryan Suddenly Realizes That Ayn Rand Was A Rabid Atheist
Republicans Cave Again: Student Loans Edition
Mississippi: A Shining Example Of Limited Government
Ah, the land of Mississippi – that shining bastion of God-fearing, limited-government conservatism. Well, unless you want to father illegitimate babies — then the government will throw you in jail. (5 comments)Over in the UK, Labour is now up big over the ruling Tories. Part of that is almost certainly a stalled, ailing economy, but what’s sort of interesting because a big part of their drop is due to implementing a cap on charitable deductions, which is essentially what Obama wanted to do here to cut ... (0 comments)Death Penalty Loses Another One
Connecticut ends the practice. I have to say, this is one of those social movements that is regularly winning big victories, but almost nobody seems to be paying attention. Which is fine by me–under the wire is probably the best way for this thing to go for now. (0 comments)Look, Mitt, I know you want to get women back on your side, but the notion that women have lost 92.3% of jobs in the recession may be technically correct in some manipulated and spun context, but it’s not correct, and it’s not even a good bullshit statistic. You might have been able to get ... (0 comments)What Do You Want Schwarzenegger To Write About In His Memoirs?
The Santorum Has Officially Been Mopped Up In The 2012 Race
I think this gets it right. Additionally, though, while I find Rick Santorum’s beliefs to be pretty risible, and his inability to accept that his ideas had some less-than-ideal results during the ’00s is a personal failing, but at the very least he seemed to possess some sense of personal honor and integrity. Not as good as ... (0 comments)I hadn’t used Instagram because I’m not so much a pictures sort of guy, but an article in the SF Chronicle article makes an interesting point that they were a much bigger threat to Zuckerburg’s empire than the other commonly named competitors. (0 comments)Fun Friday: Robocop Is Filmed In Front Of A Live Studio Audience
(THE GRAPEVINE
I was impressed and glad to see he is back on his game. The shining crown of his speech was Jindal's failure afterward. I hope Obama is able to make progress on his ambitious plans as I am confident our economy will benefit from his ideas.
amen. the juxtaposition of adult, sensible obama against patronizing, tone-deaf jindal was EPIC
The oratory was excellent. I don't have the same confidence in his plans for the economy on the merits, and expect that given the downturn and low interest rates they'll be close to neutral in direct effect (as opposed to the more typically harmful government spending during regular times).
So I suspect what will really have a positive impact is the placebo effect (i.e. all the people like DB who are hope-filled-ly confident it will work)
I gathered a few links and memorable graphs from the speech.
Hello ! I'm french. I'm studying in order to become Social Assistant. So sorry for my approximative English ! In fact, we have heard in France that Obama will create a social security for all. What is this ? Does somebody have more informations (links, texts…) ?
In France, we have since 1999 a social protection for all called "CMU" (for "Couverture Maladie Universelle"). It's destinated to poor citizens, it gives a basic but relatively efficient protection, when you can't work. For several months, it's very usefull because of the financial crisis and the rising unemployment !!! If not, many citizens couldn't go to hospital or doctor. It's important for public health first, and social cohesion secondly…
Is this kind of social protection the project of Obama ? And what is the difference with your american "Medicare" ?
Thank you, and congratulations for voting Obama !^^
hi flo. thanks for visiting — your english is great! gherald set out some good links for you below. many of us here in the US hope that we will someday have a better safety net
Hi Flo,
You're probably thinking of his plan to offer near-universal health insurance to all Americans, through a combination of letting everyone pay for something like government Medicare OR getting about a $4000/year tax credit to pay for their own (private) insurance. People will be able to choose between these options.
Social Security in the US are benefits for retired people over age 65 and disabled people. Those who qualify get a monthly government check that's funded by a payroll tax on the working population: everyone's income from below about USD $106,000/year is taxed at 12% (half of which is paid by the employer) and put into the government fund that distributes it to the needy.
Benefits for poor people without work like your CMU are what we call welfare.
Currently Medicare in the US is government health insurance for old (over 65) and disabled people. It pays for medical procedures and prescription drugs and such. A separate program for poor people is called Medicaid
Thanks for all ! It gives me some usefull indications so as to have a better understanding…