Just a sign that having massive debt might not be a good thing. And before we get into the partisan battle I blame both sides of the aisle but I am sure many will disagree. And while Rome burns….

The old saying is the two things you cannot avoid are death and taxes but these days it seems politics are much more entwined with death and to me that is a sad thing. Certainly the death of a political incumbent has political aspects, especially where  the district is marginal and thus subject to takeover. But you do not discuss such things while the body is still warm. Although most of the mainstream on both the left and the right have been properly respectful regarding the death of Congressman...

So for all the hype and panic the ad turns out to be nothing. All it was is Mom talking about how she had a rough time with Tim and almost lost him a number of times. Then some humor with her and Tim and a link to the web site. That’s it. No mention of abortion, no agenda, nada. Which likely explains why CBS approved it.

Just to give you all a place to discuss, debate, etc on the big game. I’m not much of a footbal fan but by family loyalty I’m rooting for the Colts but I wouldn’t mind seeing the Saints win. If I had to guess I’d suspect the Saints win it but we will find out tomorrow.

Somewhat lost in the hype over the Super Bowl is the fact than New Orleans is electing a mayor tonight. Based on early returns it looks like Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu is an easy winner.

For all of our debates, arguments, disagreements, let us all be glad we live in a society where we are all free to say what we think.

  Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) has taken the oath of office from VP Biden. Not much of a quorum to see him but I am sure members have work to do. VP Biden seemed quite friendly about it, but from what I’ve read he’s a classy guy. Senator Kerry (who by tradition has to escort the new member from his state) looked less than thrilled to say the least. Just to give you some references. The last time a Republican represented Massachusetts in the US Senate was December 1978 when Jimmy Carter...

Word is that Michael Jackson’s doctor is going to surrender on Friday to authorities as part of a plea bargin on charges of manslaughter. He could face up to 4 years in jail though presumably a plea would be for less time. ——————– pix/ dr.e/ed.

Senator-Elect Scott Brown has requested that Governor Deval Patrick sign his certification of election so he can be seated at once. Patrick has indicated he will sign the document tomorrow which would allow Brown to be seated the same day. Makes sense to me, he won the election 2 weeks ago and in the past newly elected Senators have been seated within a day or two.

UPDATE: As expected Kirk and Giannoulias will face off for the Senate. But the Governor’s race is interesting. Right now on the Democratic side Quinn holds a lead over Hynes of about 6,500 votes out of 900,000 cast. This works out to about 0.6% of the vote. There are still around 25-50k votes to count so this race is up in the air. The GOP side is even closer. Brady leads Dillard by about 550 votes out of about 750,000 cast and they still have about 30-40k left to count. So we may not know...

In response to the statement by President Obama during his State of The Union address the Senate Armed Services committee is holding a hearing on repealing the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy (live on CSpan 3 right now). In his opening statement Defense Secretary Gates expressed support for the repeal and indicated he is implementing a study to determine how to proceed with the repeal. He named DOD General Counsel Jeh Johnson and General Carter Ham, Commander of US Army Europe to chair...

The following thoughts are ones I’ve posted about before but since I still think it is an important issue I am going to repost it about once a year in the hopes that someone in power will take it under consideration. While it is not a pleasant thought I do think that this is an important subject to be addressed given the world in which we now live. Under the terms of the 1947 act if there is no President or Vice President the office next passes to the Speaker of the House, then the President...

The man who shot and killed a Kansas abortion provider has been found guilty of first degree murder. Finally a jury who gets the right verdict.

Just in case you get overheated in SOTU debates, a little beauty

Let me make it clear from the start that I’ve never been one who thinks that events like the State Of The Union are much more than a splashy show. It’s the closest we come to a formal state occassion and so we make the most of the hype but it rarely lasts much beyond a few days. Just to test the theory, can any of us remember much from any prior SOTU ? Has there ever really been a major policy emerging from a past SOTU ? I’m sure our readers will be able to come up with a few...

In case you’ve missed it there is a brewing controversy over a coming Super Bowl ad featuring college football star Tim Tebow and his mother. The ad is paid for by a conservative religious group (Focus on The Family) and recounts the fact that when Mrs. Tebow was pregnant with Tim that she got sick with dystenery and was advised to abort the fetus. For personal religious reasons she did not abort and had Tim, who turned out pretty well it seems. From what I understand the ad does not advocate...

You think that a homeowner surrendering a house is a big deal…. Check this out This does not help with my fears of the pending commercial real estate market collapse either.

No, I’m not talking about the former Miami Vice star (though certainly he might haunt the dreams of some). I am refering to former Congressman Celete “Don” Johnson (D-GA). Johnson had a distinguished and successful career in Georgia politics. He was a graduate of the London School Of Economics who served as staff counsel to the House Ways and Means Committee. Then he spent time in the Georgia State Senate before winning election to the US House in 1992. In his 1992 campaign for...

In a move that is all but certain to lock up a Senate gain for the GOP, Delaware AG and VP son Beau Biden has announced he will not run for his father’s old seat. This pretty much means Senator Mike Castle (R-DE) will take office next year. In Arkansas, a second Congressman, Democrat Marion Berry has announced his retirement. This means Arkansas will be very competetive this fall with two open House seats and a vulnerable Senate seat. Independent political analyst Suart Rothenberg has updated...

No partisan agenda here, no words of debate, just encouraging you to donate to whatever charity you feel will do the best to help the suffering. A good resource for donations is here

Say what you will about the wisdom of his decision, it’s certainly admirable. http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/Oakland-As-prospect-leaving-baseball-for-priesthood-012210

With the GOP win in Massachusetts there has been a lot of talk about what to do with health care reform. Some on the left pushing for immediate action while others call for stopping all reform now. What I can’t understand is why we can’t at least do stage one of the process. There are a number of aspects to health care reform that are, as far as I know, quite non controversial. Preventing companies from denying coverage due to pre-existing conditions Requiring that all plans provide...

President Obama was in Ohio today talking about jobs and the economy. One of the biggest employers in the region is a company called Invacare that makes high tech medical equipment. It would seem to make sense for Obama to visit that employer but he did not. Speculation is it had to do with health care reform.

As most of you already know the Supreme Court today voted 5-4 to strike down some of the restrictions on contributions by corporations and labor unions. Since there are already a number of discussions on the net regarding the specifics of the ruling I’m not going to go into depth on that area. Personally though I’ve always been a little reluctant to assign First Amendment rights to legal  entities, be they a business or a labor union. It just seems to me that people have the rights...

Reports from the Boston Globe indicate that the Massachusetts Secretary of State will send a letter to the US Senate on Wednesday informing them that Scott Brown has been elected. The results may not be official for several weeks but it is possible that he could be seated this week