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I should have posted this in the Charlie Rangel thread, but I think it would be better to start a catch-all topic about federal, state and local political thieves and crooks.
This is a non-partisan topic, so please don't use the crooks to point out flaws in the party they represent. Crooks are crooks across party lines.
Rep. CHARLIE RANGEL (D-NY) After the ethics committee found him guilty of various tax dodges and keeping illegal rent-controlled apartments in New York City, the House, in its wisdom, decided to "reprimand" him. Millions of taxpayer dollars basically stolen from us, and they're reprimanding him.
This is similar to what happened to House Speaker NEWT GINGRICH (R-GA.) in 1997. Gingrich was reprimanded, but also ordered to pay a $300,000 penalty. He was the first House speaker to be disciplined for ethical violations.
Meanwhile, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA.) won't settle the ethics charges against her (she's charged with helping to steer federal funds to a specific bank). Waters has decided against settling potential House ethics charges and will take the matter to trial. We'll be watching.
So they protect their own no matter what. It's shameful, really. unless it's a violation of a sexual nature. Then these Puritan pimps are all over the offender.
Post your own criminal/unethical politician examples here.
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Quite an expensive way for prospective book buyers (morons, really) to help Palin learn a bit about history beyond what may have happened in Wassila during her "illustrious" tenure as mayor.
(CNN) - Get used to this image - it's a cover that will be gracing every bookstore come November.
Harper Collins Thursday unveiled the cover art for Sarah Palin's forthcoming work set to be released in late fall, "America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag."
The cover features a smiling Palin looking straight into the camera while donning a flag pin and flag-studded bracelet.
Harper Collins, the publishing behemoth behind Palin's wildly successful 2009 memoir Going Rogue, says the new book "ranges widely over American history, [ ] culture, and current affairs, and reflects on the key values-both national and spiritual-that have been such a profound part of Governor Palin's life and continue to inform her vision of America's future."
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A recent article in the Washington Post stated that Democratic leaders plan to "link the Republican Party to some of the most extreme elements of the 'tea party' movement, seeking to define all GOP candidates as outside the mainstream by highlighting such tea party talking points as ending Medicare and privatizing Social Security."
Moderate and/or sensible Republicans have not been heard from much during this campaign. Do they still exist?
Will the Dem strategy of painting all Republicans as tea baggers work?
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Will it be justified? Most of the world does not want Imabutthead Needajihad to ramp up the Iranian nuclear weapons program. What if he does?
What if it's proven that the Iranian government is funding terrorism?
Who's coming with us?
I wonder how such an invasion would go. Missile attacks? Full on tanks and boots invasion?
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Once again, something which would do some good in this country is halted due to bickering in our government. This bill was not passed due to amendments. I believe so much more could be accomplished without this silly tactic!
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
The Associated Press
Much of the bill had bipartisan support, but Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Democrats were blocking GOP amendments. Reid said Republican demands kept changing.
"It takes a lot of effort to make a partisan issue out of a bill that should have broad bipartisan support," McConnell said. "But our friends on the other side have managed to pull it off. They've outdone themselves."
Reid said he offered to hold votes on some Republican amendments, only to see the list of GOP demands grow.
"They wanted to offer amendments. I've agreed to offer amendments," Reid said. "There's nothing snarled, there's only an effort to stop passage of this bill."
GOP amendments included measures to beef up border security, impose a government spending cap and lower the estate tax, which is scheduled to return next year with a top rate of 55 percent on estates larger than $1 million.
One Republican amendment would repeal a new tax reporting requirement for businesses that was included in the massive health care overhaul enacted last spring.
Democrats, meanwhile, have added about $1.5 billion in disaster relief for farmers who lost crops in 2009, a measure sponsored by Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.
Democrats also wanted to add an amendment to settle long-running class-action lawsuits brought by black farmers and American Indians.
One lawsuit concerned the government's management and accounting of more than 300,000 trust accounts of American Indians. The other is a discrimination lawsuit brought by black farmers against the Agriculture Department. The cost of settling them both: about $4.6 billion.
Sounds like a bunch of "laying blame" to me. Both sides as usual take a beneficial bill and muck it up. Why not support small business? Sure....help out the big banks and car dealers but not the real struggling American businessmen and women? The ones who are NOT riding around in a private jet...
Our government needs a major overhaul....
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A year and a half into Obama's Presidency, none of the mistakes of the Bush era have been corrected.
We are now doubling troop size in Afghanistan. The Iraq "war" continues, although now underreported by almost everyone.
Unemloyment is still sky high.
The tax cuts Bush lavished on the wealthy are still in place, and although they are due to expire Jan 1, may be extended by the Republicans and some know-nothing Democrats.
The stimulus package may or may not be a permanent help, I don't know. I do know that I really don't see much difference between what the Bush white house was, and what Obama has allowed his white house to become,
Why is this? Are the Democrats simply wimps? Were the people sold a bill of goods by the current President?
I'm always interested in reasons. What is the reason for this happening? It can't be all Republican obstructionists not letting him have his way...so what the hell is it?
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The Coalition Government has scrapped plans to give men accused of rape anonymity until they are charged.
Originally, the plan was to grant anonymity until conviction. This was then changed to "until charged". The plans have now been scrapped altogether. Instead it has been suggested the Press Complaints Commission should be used to stop media outlets revealing the names of those accused of rape.
MPs from both sides of the House had criticised the plans, saying that naming men accused of rape encourages other victims to come forward. It has also been suggested that the plans, which were part of the coalition agreement, were drawn up without thought given to female sensitivities. Justice Secretary Ken Clarke denies this, however.
Personally, I am in favour of giving men in this situation anonymity until conviction, but at the very least until they are put on trial. I get the impression that in the court of public opinion, guilt is assumed in rape cases. There have been stories in recent years of men whose lives have been ruined by false rape allegations, because even though they have been found not guilty, women are still wary and distrustful.
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Did Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) violate House ethics rules?
No, says Rangel. Yes says the House Ethics Committee which found ethical violations in his personal financial dealings and in his failure to pay taxes on a Dominican villa.
If the charges are proven in a hearing, or if Rangel chooses to subject himself to a full house committee investigation, what will it mean for the Democrats in November and in 2012?
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Australia is in the middle of a short five weeks election campaign. This occurred after the Deputy Prime Minister Jullie Gilard replaced the Prime Minister Keven Rudd. She is now standing against a Conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott.
While there are unique things about Australia there are also many similarities. Keven Rudd was elected on a wave of popularity to introduce change from the past eleven years of Conservative rule. He had one of the highest votes of any Australian leader. In that sense he was similar to Obama.
Yet in a little over two years he lost all that support and was considered in danger of losing in his first term, a rare event here. Obama is in a similar position. I know in your constitution you can not replace him with Clinton. However I am sure there are many in the Democratic Party who would like him to take a lower profile
This election is driven by polls. Gillard has dumped any policies that will lose votes like Climate control, taxes on mining companies and being soft on immigration. The opposition leader Abbott has dropped any support for work place reforms legislation that would lessen the power of the unions and boost small businesses. These were the main policies of his party for eleven years.
Neither party is campaigning on its real agenda but being politically correct. The Government slogan is moving forward suggesting that Gillard had nothing to do with Rudd's policies. Some of these, like spending to avoid the recession, were unpopular although we did avoid the recession. The Opposition is talking about reckless spending, debt, and big taxes. This is popular among conservatives as it is in the USA. However they do not say how they will cut spending or reduce the debt quicker than the government, just slogans like cutting waste.
As there were no other popular policies both parties have turn to stopping immigration. Like in the USA this is always popular. We share no land border with any country but we do have a few thousand illegal migrants who arrive by boat. The opposition said they would stop these but are vague about how. Sending them to a Pacific Island to be processed seems the most popular. Gillard has come up with her own solution, an island in the Indian Ocean instead of the Pacific.
Will this be the future election campaigns in other countries. Slogans that mean nothing, policies that can appeal to the polls advocating solutions that will never work?
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Even blue dog Democrat like Blanche Lincoln would like this bill...it would be smart for Democrats to bring the PO back to the table and fight for what the majority of Americans want.
Woolsey's district is sandwiched in between San Francisco and Marin districts and one represented by right wing caricature named Wally Herger. Herger is the moron who stood up at a Gonad Gargler Rally and proclaimed himself to be a "right wing terrorist".
Rep. Lynn Woolsey, the chief sponsor and Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and President of Americans for Democratic Action: "As the deficit continues to grow, so does the need for a program that can save billions of dollars and improve health care while doing it. The robust public option offers lower-cost competition to private insurance companies. This will make insurance more affordable for those who do not have it and keep insurance affordable for those who do."
http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.aspx?id=209814
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K2 or Spice is all the rage now. It's still legal in some states while others have banned it. K2 is always sold as incense not intended for human consumption. The makers and purveyors of this product say it's to be burned like potpourri.
Yeah, right. People are smoking it up. I tried some a few moths ago. This is not the old herbal marijuana substitute you used to find in head shops. This stuff is real. After just a few hits, I was high as if I had smoked some good sativa. It was an up high. Not a sedate stone.
Some other people I know recently tried some. They all had the same experience as me. A very real and up high. Just like marijuana.
Various reports of tests done on seized K2 and Spice have said it contains JWH-018 and/or JWH-073. Both are analgesic chemicals from the naphthoylindole family and which act as agonists at both the CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors. This gives the THC effect when smoked. The chemicals are sprayed on herbs often found in herbal smoking blends.
JWH stands for Dr. John W. Huffman, an organic chemist at Clemson University who synthesized analogues and metabolites of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
So far, it looks like the worst effects come from the inhalation of smoke rather than the chemicals themselves. Everything is chemicals. Water is chemicals. Air is chemicals. Smoking is bad for you.
These chemicals have a greater impact on cannabinoid receptors in the brain. It takes less to get higher than with marijuana. On the upside, you can smoke less to get just as high or higher. On the downside, some people will smoke just as much no matter what.
Scientists also believe it may be possible to overdose on K2 and Spice which could result in seizures. Well, that's not good.
JWH-018 and JWH-073 are not approved for human consumption by the FDA and not very well tested on humans. You pays your money and you takes your chances.
Like with marijuana, no physical addictions have surfaced. These substances may be physiologically addictive though. Sex, food and gambling have the same potential.
Some of this stuff comes from Canada. Some may come from China. That's concerning. China is not just bad at quality control, they've been caught using out right poisonous stuff in their products.
Overall, I won't be hitting the K2 or Spice. It's $35-$50 for 3 grams and that's 3 grams of we aren't quite sure what it is. Beer is a lot more honest.
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who will be the Republican nominee for President in 2012? Palin, Gingrich, Romney, Huckabee, or write in your choice.
Explain your answer. 
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