Friday, March 30, 2012

How the Republican Budget Hurts the Middle Class

The Republican Budget passed this week on party lines; 228-191 no democrats voted for the bill and 10 republicans voted against it.  This is trickle down at its worst.  Still more cuts for billionaires and millionaires while savaging our infrastructure and safety net.  Republicans have no new ideas and their current ideas have been shown to be mostly self-serving and economic suicide for a nation.   Anyone else remember 2008?
Paul Krugman:
His latest budget proposal has received some harsh critiques. It calls for huge tax cuts, supposedly offset by closing loopholes and ending tax expenditures — except that in a long report he fails to name a single tax expenditure that he would cut. It assumes drastic cuts in discretionary spending, basically eliminating everything except defense. And over the medium term, of course, it’s a plan to savage the poor while giving big tax breaks to the rich.

Related articles:
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President Obama Addresses Planned Parenthood Supporters



This video was released on Tuesday.  The first I heard about was on Friday's Rachel Maddow show.  President Barack Obama delivers a 100% complete and resounding endorsement of Planned Parenthood in this short video. The President also has a message for supporters of Planned Parenthood and admonishes the republicans for using women's health as a political football.   This is the President we voted for!
   
"For you and for most Americans protecting women's health is a mission that stands above politics."

We're standing on our chairs cheering, Mr. President. 

The Daily Bread


Catchy New DNC Ad




This catchy and amusing DNC ad is one of the best this season, highlighting Romney's support of the Paul Ryan Billionaires Budget. Yes, both Romney and Ryan want to kill Medicare and Medicaid.
Think Progress has a collection of stories on the Ryan-Romney Budget's impact on America.

Happy Friday

Credit:
ESO/T. Preibisch
Carina Nebulae

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Apple Pie

This is an extra large pie dish, and its a real struggle to cover it with my regular pie crust recipe.  Think I need to change the quantities to adjust to this larger size plate.  I'll post them if we get a good result. 

The Daily Bread

It's been a while since I unloaded my camera and published some bread pictures.  Since our youngest son moved out into his new apartment, the bread doesn't go as fast, I'm baking about every other day now. 

SCOTUS On The Affordable Care Act


JUSTICE SCALIA: Mr. Kneedler, what happened to the Eighth Amendment? You really want us to go through these 2,700 pages?
(Laughter.)
JUSTICE SCALIA: And do you really expect the Court to do that? Or do you expect us to -- to give this function to our law clerks?
Is this not totally unrealistic? That we are going to go through this enormous bill item by item and decide each one?
Yes, Mr. Scalia, we expect you to read the whole thing.  We expect our soldiers in Afghanistan to carry 90 lb packs in 100 degree temperatures.  This isn't a Koch sponsored speaking luncheon at a luxury resort that you and Clarence Thomas like to attend.  This is work and sometimes its hard.  Most Americans are familiar with hard work, obviously Mr. Scalia isn't.
Scalia again displaying his unsuitability for his post;
 "If we struck down nothing in this legislation but the -- what's it called, the Cornhusker kickback, okay, we find that to violate the constitutional proscription of venality, okay?" asked Scalia, talking to Paul Clement. "When we strike that down, it's clear that Congress would not have passed it without that. It was the means of getting the last necessary vote in the Senate. And you are telling us that the whole statute would fall because the Cornhusker kickback is bad. That can't be right."
Mr. Scalia doesn't know that the "Cornhusker Kickback" isn't in the bill.  It was removed before passage over two years ago.  Other Scalia comments comparing the Affordable Care Act to the government mandating its citizens eat broccoli, demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of the Affordable Care Act.  The folks at MSNBC had a field day with Scalia's ridiculous argument.

Al Sharpton said;""Folks, healthcare is not broccoli or cell phones or the gym, it's a fundamental right of every American and our government has the power to protect that right."  Paul Krugman added;  "Astonishingly, many of the justices appear not to understand that health care isn't like the market for cars or broccoli."


Even more disturbing is this Bloomberg poll;
Image Bloomberg; full story here
 3 out 4 Americans feel that the justices on SCOTUS will decide the Affordable Care Act based solely on politics instead of the merits of the case.  Apparently, I'm not the only one to bitterly remember the 2000 election that was nullified by SCOTUS, not for any good reason, other than they wanted Bush to be president.  After that decision the 5 conservative activist judges decided that corporations are people.  A decision that can be critiqued by toddlers.  Senator McCain put it nicely.

John McCain:
"What the Supreme Court did is a combination of arrogance, naivete and stupidity the likes of which I have never seen,"
The 5 conservative justices, can't be bothered to read the bill, aren't bothered by precedent, and most assuredly will decide the case based on their political beliefs and in accordance with their fancy luxury resort conference buddies.  

Rachel Maddow summarizes neatly:
It's problematic enough that Americans lack confidence that Supreme Court justices will be objective and fair; it's worse that we can't count on justices to do their homework, either.

We need to rename the Supreme Court of the United States to the Conservative Republican Court of the United States.  CORP COURT. The fact that they have turned our court into a 3 stooges vaudville act, bothers them little, their already booking their next Koch sponsored luxury conference where they won't need to read anything and everything they say is wildly applauded. 


Most Americans say they don't like the healthcare bill, but when they are asked about specific provisions of the bill they are vastly in favor of it.
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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Washington State Democratic Caucus- April 15

The Washington State Democrats will be holding their caucus on April 15th at 1PM.  What is the Democratic Caucus? 
The 2012 Caucuses and Conventions are your way of becoming a delegate to the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, choosing a nominee for President, shaping our Party platform, and getting involved with the Party for 2012.
   If you never have been to a caucus, I haven't either, it's pretty easy and sounds like fun.  Not registered to vote yet?  Not a problem, you can register to vote at the caucus and also participate.  The Washington State Democrats have a nice FAQ and a caucus finder here.  

Watch an informative 9 minute video of mysterious caucus events

Come to the Washington State Democrats Precinct Caucuses on April 15th and help President Obama get re-elected.  

Monday, March 26, 2012

Krugman Tackles ALEC

Paul Krugman hits a grand slam with this timely and hard hitting editorial. 
Lobbyists, Guns and Money
Florida’s now-infamous Stand Your Ground law, which lets you shoot someone you consider threatening without facing arrest, let alone prosecution, sounds crazy — and it is. And it’s tempting to dismiss this law as the work of ignorant yahoos. But similar laws have been pushed across the nation, not by ignorant yahoos but by big corporations.
Specifically, language virtually identical to Florida’s law is featured in a template supplied to legislators in other states by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a corporate-backed organization that has managed to keep a low profile even as it exerts vast influence (only recently, thanks to yeoman work by the Center for Media and Democracy, has a clear picture of ALEC’s activities emerged). And if there is any silver lining to Trayvon Martin’s killing, it is that it might finally place a spotlight on what ALEC is doing to our society — and our democracy.
What is ALEC? Despite claims that it’s nonpartisan, it’s very much a movement-conservative organization, funded by the usual suspects: the Kochs, Exxon Mobil, and so on. Unlike other such groups, however, it doesn’t just influence laws, it literally writes them, supplying fully drafted bills to state legislators. In Virginia, for example, more than 50 ALEC-written bills have been introduced, many almost word for word. And these bills often become law....
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ObamaCare Hits the Supreme Court

Image Credit


The US spends far more and receives less favorable results from spending almost double what other industrialized countries spend in health care.  The US pays the highest share of GDP in healthcare costs 16% and also has the highest growth rate in spending of any other nation.  One US policy change that has a chance to change this disturbing trend is ObamaCare.  Republicans don't have any solutions other than to end ObamaCare and go back to health insurance companies refusing claims for pre-existing conditions.  Every Republican presidential candidate has promised to repeal health reform on Day One. That's what they're running on. Everyone, except Healthcare Insurance CEO's, benefits from ObamaCare.   Check out this interactive and find out what ObamaCare does for you.

How You Benefit

If you like what you see, Click here and show your support for Obamacare


Everything you need to know about the Health Care Act's Supreme Court Debut  (Ezra Klein)
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Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest 15th Annual Luncheon

Valerie Plame Wilson, the ousted CIA operative and the best selling author of "Fair Game" will be the special guest at Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest 15th Annual Luncheon on May 5th 12:00-2:00 pm.  Washington State Convention Center: Tickets here.

Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest
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Join the 100,000 Strong 99% Spring

This is a great video, watch and help take back our government from the 1%.  


Sign up to join the 99% Spring here April 9-15

Romney Lies

I've had my fill of lying republicans.



In this clip from the Rachel Maddow show, Rachel talks about how often Romney lies.
She lists some of Mitt Romney's lies, why it's a lie and the Romney campaigns reaction to his lies. The Romney lying segment starts 6 minutes into the clip after the "etch-a-sketch" coverage.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Paul Ryan's Trickle Down Budget


Republicans know only one song; "Tax Breaks for the Rich, Everyday, Everyway". Paul Ryan's new budget is more trickle down economics.  Big tax breaks for millionaires  and corporations paid for by the old, poor and politically unconnected. Paul Ryan is the opposite of Robin Hood, he steals from the poor and gives to the rich.   His ridiculous budget which has been endorsed by every republican presidential candidate doesn't even balance the budget until 2040 and that is based on outrageous budgetary claims that many economists have criticized. 
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Thursday, March 22, 2012

The Afforable Care Act, What's In It For You?

Every Republican presidential candidate wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act.  If they do repeal it, how will it affect you?  Most Americans are unaware of some the great benefits in the ACA.   One of the most important is insurance companies failure to pay for "pre-existing" conditions.  There are many others, check out this quick click-info-graphic from Barack Obama to see whats in it for you. 
How You Benefit
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Proof President Obama Doesn't Control Oil Prices

Image Credit: New York Times and Energy Information
This chart shows how US gas prices closely follow trends in Germany, France and Britain.  Oil prices are set by global demand, cost of production and speculation by wall street.  No amount of Drill Baby Drill will change the price of US oil, unless we nationalize all the US oil companies.  No one wants to nationalize oil companies. 
As a country we have a choice, invest heavily in green renewable energy sources, or continue to pay higher and higher prices for oil.  The republicans oppose green renewable energy projects.  Every dollar we spend on green energy projects is an investment in our energy independent future and one dollar big oil doesn't get their hands on.  Government subsidies should be given to emerging new markets, not extremely profitable already established ones like the oil industries.  The republicans continue to insist that oil companies retain massive government tax breaks, which is like insisting on government subsidies for livery stables during the time Henry Ford was mass producing the new automobile. 
Image credit: Wikipedia

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Sausage and Millet Stuffed Red Peppers

Prior to baking
This is one of our favorite family recipes.  We have adapted it from one of James Beard's Cookbooks: Cooking with Grains.  Mr. Beards recipe called for very little millet; 1/4 cup.  This religates the millet to a flavor, we like the taste of toasted millet and add 3-4 times the amount of millet to the recipe.  The original recipe also called for 8 stuffed green peppers, we stuff one red pepper for each person and add zucchini and yellow squash as a border around the left over sausage and millet.

Sausage and Millet Stuffed Red Peppers
1 cup hulled millet
2 1/2 cups water
1 tsp. salt
4-8 red peppers
1 lb of Italian Sausage
1 medium onion finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
2-4 T of curry powder
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 cup chicken stock
croutons or bread crumbs
sprinkle of Parmesan cheese
 2  tomatoes, sliced
Toast the millet in a heavy cast iron pan until it is golden.  Takes about 5 minutes on medium high.  You'll need to shake the pan a lot in order to keep the millet from burning.  Toasting greatly improves the flavor of the millet, I only skipped this step once. 
lightly toasted millet at left and raw millet at right
 Add the salt and millet to the boiling water, set to simmer and set a timer for 20 minutes.  When the timer goes off, fluff the millet with a fork and let cool.  
Fluffy cooked millet
While the millet is cooking, cut the tops off the peppers, with a teaspoon remove the pith and seeds.  Boil the peppers for one minute in boiling salted water and also the sliced zucchini and yellow squash if your going to use them.  We boil the squash for about 4 minutes.  Brown the sausage in a large skillet, add the chopped onions, salt, curry powder, garlic and several grinds of black pepper.  Cook the mixture for 10 minutes on medium low, stirring often. 
 In a large bowl lightly beat 2 eggs, add the chicken stock, sausage mixture and millet.  Mix well then stuff your peppers.  If your using the squash make a border, then fill with the sausage-millet mixture.  Cover with sliced tomatoes, sprinkle with breadcrumbs or croutons (I forgot the croutons for the picture) and then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes.  We usually just serve this with fresh bread, plenty of vegetables and grain are in the main dish. 
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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

NWLC: I Will Not Be Denied Healthcare



From the National Women's Law Center
The new health care law is working for women
Join our campaign and sign our petition to tell your leaders: I Will Not Be Denied!™

Petition Text

The health care law is working for women, helping them get the care they need. The law provides important benefits and protections that promote better health and lower costs. Now, millions more women can get preventive services like mammograms and colonoscopies without a co-pay. The law also stops insurance companies from dropping anyone’s coverage simply because they’re sick.
But this is just the beginning. Later this year, millions more women will have access to well-woman exams and birth control without a co-pay and all health plans will have to include maternity care. Other important benefits and protections will continue to roll out until the law is fully implemented, insurance companies will no longer be allowed to charge women higher premiums than men. But opponents of the law are fighting to take away all these important benefits and common-sense protections.
Take a stand and help us protect women’s health care. Join the National Women’s Law Center’s campaign and tell opponents of affordable care “I Will NOT Be Denied.”

Sign the petition and stand behind the Health Care Law
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Monday, March 19, 2012

Justice Department Needs to Investigate Trayvon Martin's Death

This Florida teen was shot and killed on his way home from buying iced tea and skittles.  The man who shot Trayvon was a neighborhood watch captain, that called 911 to report; "This guy looks like he's up to no good or he's on drugs or something."  He disregarded 911 instructions to stay in his car and then claimed self defense when Trayvon was killed.  The Tallahassee police investigation is full of problems.  We need the Justice Department to step in and do a proper investigation.  A tragedy like this touches and frightens every teen and parent in this nation.


Sign the petition to the US Justice Department to investigate this case 


The Trayvon Martin Killing, Explained
Adam Weinstein from Mother Jones

****UPDATE****
The Justice department and the FBI have both launched investigations in this case.  More than 400,000 people signed the petition.
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We Need More Women in the US Senate



Senator Barbara Boxer and her PAC for a Change just released their first "official" music video, "A Woman's Voice," by 3 Oscar-winning songwriters, to showcase the incredible women running for the U.S. Senate in 2012. Watch the video!

 Sign Up To Get Involved Here
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Saturday, March 17, 2012

FDA; Label Genetically Modified Foods



The FDA doesn't think the public should be informed if your hamburger contains Pink Slime.  The FDA also doesn't think you need to know if your corn has been genetically modified to make its own pesticide.  The FDA doesn't think you need to know if your salmon has been genetically modified to grow at twice the rate of normal salmon.  Perhaps, the FDA doesn't want us to know because it would hurt corporate profits.  Almost a million people have left comments with the FDA on labeling genetically modified foods.  Only 9 more days to leave comments and about 10,000 more comments to make a million.  Polls show 90% of Americans support labeling GM foods.  
From Just label it.org:
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is preparing to approve genetically engineered salmon, which would be the first genetically engineered animal on supermarket shelves in the United States. The salmon is engineered to produce hormones year-round that cause the fish to grow at twice its natural rate. But without labels, we'll never know.
That's why I submitted a comment to the FDA demanding that genetically engineered foods be labeled. And in about 30 seconds and with just a few clicks, you can join me. Will you tell the FDA that you support mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods too?
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Protesting with "Gynecological Overshare"

The Washington Post had the best description of the protests over Virginia Republicans anti-woman and anti-abortion legislation.  Seems the state conservative republican legislators facebook pages have been exploding with:
"Virginia seems to have ushered in a new protest genre: the gynecological overshare."
 Republican Virginia State senator Ryan McDougle introduced the invasive transvaginal ultrasound bill and has drawn the ire and scorn of thousands of Virginians.  Seems the hapless senator has been stuck to his delete key for hours, removing women's comments from his page.  Fortunately, the Daily Kos has saved some of these priceless protests. 

Daily Kos, Virginia Senator Ryan McDouglel
 
PERRY, IA - JANUARY 02:  Kansas Governor Sam B...Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Kansas conservative republican governor Sam Brownback has been inundated with comments also.  You'll remember Sam Brownback doesn't like electronic heckling.  After the Kansas governor visited a local high school last November, one of the students wrote an unfavorable tweet about the lackluster governor.  The governors staff contacted the school and the school principal dressed down the young lady and demanded that she write an apology to the governor.  Perhaps, because the commenter was a young women the governor and his staff felt comfortable in pursuing this matter without any consideration for the students free speech rights.  The governor is ready to sign one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation, again without any consideration of women's reproductive rights.  Maybe there is a pattern here.  Suddenly, the governors facebook page has been bombarded with very clever and funny "overinformation" protest posts.  Conservative republican staff members will now have to display how fast they can delete posts as part of their job interviews. How long until some woman asks one of these republican experts on women's anatomy a gynecological question in public?  Buzzfeed has captured many of the comments here

The best facebook comments on republican governor Sam Brownbacks page
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Friday, March 16, 2012

Five month Old Nautica Swimtrunks

My five month old, now ripped, Nautica trunks
Fortunately, I noticed the big rip in the front of my trunks before I put them on. They must have shredded when I wrung the water out of them at my last pool visit. I received these complimentary trunks towards the end of October. Nautica, sent me these trunks to replace a pair that faded very quickly. I used these trunks for less than 5 months. Strange that the inner part of the waist never faded. I did find these trunks very comfortable to wear, but they just don't hold up under public pool use. 
My brand new trunks in October 2011
 Related articles
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The Daily Bread (Minus the Yeast)

The picture does not do this "oval brick" justice


The day before I prepared this loaf my son, said: "Dad this is the best loaf you've ever made".  For that days bread I had added 1 tsp of Rosemary, several grindings of black pepper, 2 T of sesame seeds and 2 minced garlic cloves.
That night I double downed on additives for the next day's Daily bread.  Adding 4 minced garlic cloves, black pepper, 2 T of sesame seeds and 1 T rosemary.  Unfortunately, with all the focus on additives, I neglected the most important part---yeast.
You may think this loaf is ruined and worthless.  Actually, this loaf would make a great doorstop or would serve as an excellent paperweight during a hurricane.  This loaf would also be an acceptable choice for a very short game of Frisbee with your favorite Planned Parenthood defunder and reproductive rights inhibiting republican official. 
Think this is the first loaf, we've had to toss (didn't go far) in all the years of baking the Daily Bread.  It was a humbling and very humorous experience that I'm delighted to share with my friends and readers. 
submitted for your amusement

The "Rahm" We Traveled



I almost stopped watching this video after the second appearance of Rahm Emmanuel appearing way too close on camera. Didn't they screen this film? Why they would include one of the most divisive and unloved characters in the Obama administration is beyond my understanding.   At least they didn't have Robert Gibbs narrate.  Was this film directed by a republican? With Rahm included I give this film a d-.  Cut Rahm out of the film and it gets an A.   I'll admit to a bias here, this is my mental image of Rahm, he's the little guy in red.
Image Credit: The Simpsons

Happy Friday



Neil deGrasse Tyson is a national treasure, I love listening to this man talk about the universe.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Sweet Potato Au Gratin

Tasty sweet potatoes Au gratin
3 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4" slices
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 cups half and half
1 1/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese
freshly grated nutmeg

Heat oven to 375.  Butter 2-3 quart baking dish and layer sweet potato slices in the dish.
In a 1 quart saucepan melt the butter, then add the flour.  Cook and stir till smooth and bubbly.  Add the salt, pepper, Gruyere and then gradually add the 2 cups of half and half while stirring.  Stir and cook till the mixture thickens then pour over the sweet potatoes.  Grate the nutmeg over the top, cover and bake for 40 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are tender.  Remove cover and bake 30-40 minutes or until your dish is a golden brown.  When I removed the lid, I sprinkled about a 1/4 cup of cheese over the top of the potatoes. 
Adapted from Betty Crocker best loved Christmas recipes.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The Daily Bread

,recipe and directions here
My niece came for a visit last week.  During dinner she remarked how my bread is better than her bread.  She liked the softer, chewier crust on my bread.  Bakers, love the hard dark crust on bread, diners, not so much.  For quite a while we've been baking our bread at 425 degrees, 30 minutes with lid on and 25 with lid off.   You still get a great chewy crust, but it's not hard like a baguette.  My niece sent me a text a couple days ago, and now our bread is the same.  She mentioned that she also has a problem with the dough sticking to the towel.  This can be avoided by sprinkling a little more flour on the towel and or sprinkling the towel with oats.   If your dough seems a little wet, dust towel with extra flour and add  1/3 cup of oats to the towel, and it should solve your stickiness.  Its usually when the dough rises in the towel for over 3 hours, that there is a problem with the dough sticking to the towel. 

Happy Pi Day

Image from CLKER.com

Pi = 3.14
Today is 3/14/2012
 Happy Pi day

Stop The GOP War On Women


Mitt Romney; "Planned Parenthood, we're going to get rid of that".

From Planned Parenthood;
To the 2012 candidates for office:
I hear what you are saying. I see what you are doing. And I'm watching...
I stand with the 157 million women and girls living in the United States. Women make up more than half of the nation's population, and we — women and men who care about women's health — are watching because our health and our lives are on the line. We are watching out for each other, and we are watching political candidates like hawks.
The coming elections will determine the futures of us all — sisters, mothers, grandmothers, daughters, aunts, and friends.
I pledge that I'll be one of millions of women and men across America WATCHING, THINKING, ACTING and VOTING to protect my health and that of my family, friends and neighbors.
Sign the Pledge here, don't let the GOP eliminate Planned Parenthood

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Bubble Boy More In Touch Than Romney


Mitt Romney - The King of BainMitt Romney - The King of Bain (Photo credit: DonkeyHotey)

Romney:

"We're going to start drilling again in the gulf, we're going to drill in the outer continental shelf, we're going to drill in North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas. That communicates to the world that there will be more supply coming from the U.S. And that affects the price of gasoline,"
"The test is pretty simple. Is the program so critical, it's worth borrowing money from china to pay for it? And on that basis of course you get rid of Obamacare, that's the easy one. Planned Parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. The subsidy for Amtrack, I'd eliminate that. The National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities,"

For a man who claims to have "business sense", I've never seen a more hapless statement.  The US has 16% of global petroleum reserves.  We could double, triple or quadruple our domestic output and it would not make a 2 cent different in the price of US gasoline.  That is unless we made exporting US oil illegal, but the oil companies would never allow that.  If Romney and the other presidential candidates would stop talking about bombing Iran and starting another war in the middle east we would see a drop in the global price of oil. 
Romney wants to eliminate Obamacare?  Romney wants health insurance companies to maximize their profits by denying our insurance claims due to pre-existing conditions.  Romney wants to replace Obamacare with higher health care costs and more unnecessary deaths and bankruptcies for every American.
Get rid of Planned Parenthood?  Oh no, your not.  Willard Romney and the rest of the republican party may have declared war on women and Planned Parenthood, but we are going to fight back.  So good luck with that Willard, you'll need it.
Finally, Mitt wants to eliminate subsidies for Amtrack.  Not everyone can fly around the country in fancy lear jets and jaunt about cities in helicopter taxis.  Mitt doesn't ride the train.  He doesn't even know anyone who owns a railroad.  While Europe and China are investing in high speed rail, republican governors are cancelling high speed rail projects and Willard doesn't even want to invest in low speed rail. 

Romney, doesn't understand how average Americans live.  He doesn't understand that a "pre-existing" condition means a death sentence to average Americans.  Romney doesn't understand that the only healthcare millions of women get is a yearly checkup from Planned Parenthood.  He doesn't understand that Amtrack has to wait for freight trains meaning longer trips for average Americans.  Of course, Romney doesn't value the Arts or the Humanities... where is the profit in that?
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Doonesbury Stands Up for Women, Gets Censored

Doonesbury has been exposing Governor Rick Perry's invasive Texas abortion law.  Some papers have refused to carry this weeks drawings and some have moved them to the opinion pages.  Gary Trudeau has said that ignoring this issue would be "comedy malpractice".  I'd agree that this is legislative malpractice by the GOP.  Texas leads the nation in uninsured residents.  Over a fourth of Texans have no health insurance, and  Governor Rick Perry and his republican led legislators are mandating unnecessary and costly medical procedures.

Read the Full strip here
Read the Second Installment here
Read the Third Installment here
Read the Fourth Installment here
Read the Fifth Installment here
The Final Strip


Planned Parenthood has a Petition "Stand Up For Texas Women"

Check out Nicholas Kristoff article in the NYT "When States Abuse Women" that lists Texas' abortion law indignities.
***Update***
More than 60 major newspapers have declined to publish the Doonesbury parody of Texas' abortion laws.
The Center for Reproductive Rights has a petition, you can sign to encourage the newspapers to carry these strips.(you'll need to sign twice, once for each group of 30 newspapers)
   Some editors have claimed that these cartoons “go over the line of good taste,” but these cartoons are simply commenting on a law and its very real impact. What some editors are calling “too graphic” is just a depiction of what the law requires—that women endure an invasive ultrasound and listen to their doctor deliver an ideological speech. 

I urge you to listen to all sides of this debate and to consider the serious implications of your censorship of this issue. Your readers expect the truth—and not just a candy-coated version of it.
Sign Here
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