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The Moderate Voice

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Financial Reform: The Opacity of Hope

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The glaring area in which this Administration has been Change-challenged is up next, and the question is whether the President will direct his new-found audacity at the money manipulators who have been wrecking the economy. Unlike health insurers, the financial industry has little public support after the meltdown, but obfuscation is rife and will get worse as lobbyists pour … [Read more...] about Financial Reform: The Opacity of Hope

Discontinuing Self-Published Reader Comments

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While many of our readers publish comments that are constructive and well-mannered, we are experiencing a growing number of comments that are mean-spirited, foul-mouthed, ad hominem attacks. The frequency of the latter now requires approximately two hours every day of monitoring and mediation, in keeping with our comments policy. That’s too much time -- for anyone -- to spend … [Read more...] about Discontinuing Self-Published Reader Comments

Next Assignment: El Santuario

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To those who seek a pathway nearly occluded. To any who wake up... like an exultation of larks, seeing beauty most everywhere. To those who walk without skin. To those who walk wise-awake. Those who have kept a place for the sacrament of imagination. To those irked but who remember this planet is very young... and the soul is very old... in the next few days, … [Read more...] about Next Assignment: El Santuario

The Odyssey of a Condemned Texas Man’s French Wife: Le Monde, France

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There is a transatlantic drama playing out in Texas. It involves a man condemned to die and his wife, a French citizen who met him through her involvement in France's movement to end the death penalty. From France's Le Monde, this article give a sense of what it's like for Sandrine Ageorges Skinner to stand by her husband Hank - who is fighting the state of Texas to administer … [Read more...] about The Odyssey of a Condemned Texas Man’s French Wife: Le Monde, France

Obama Plans to Use Momentum From Health Care Reform Victory to Press On

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It sounds as if President Barack Obama -- fresh off a weekend when he angered Republicans by making 15 recess appointments and became a big story by making a surprise visit to Afghanistan -- plans to use the "Big Mo" created by the passage of health care reform. If anyone thought Obama was going to take a breather, they are apparently mistaken. The Politico reports: An … [Read more...] about Obama Plans to Use Momentum From Health Care Reform Victory to Press On

The U.S.-Zionist ‘Hoax’ Over East Jerusalem: Amal Al Ummah, Egypt

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Could the events surrounding Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem, and the ensuing dispute between the U.S. and Israel, have been planned all along? Reflecting the continuing frustration of Palestinians and appearing to call for a new intifada, the chairwoman of the Women's Initiative for the Victory of Palestine, Kawthar Abdal Fattah, writes in Egyptian newspaper Amal al-Oumma … [Read more...] about The U.S.-Zionist ‘Hoax’ Over East Jerusalem: Amal Al Ummah, Egypt

GOP Governor Candidates Stay The Course On Immigration Reform In California

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California, being a border state, is in the forefront of a battlefield on immigration reform where political corpses are buried. Just ask Pete Wilson, a former Republican governor exiled to oblivion, who turned the state into a Democratic stronghold for his 1994 support of anti-illegal-immigrant blowback in Proposition 187. After an immediate injunction, the meat and … [Read more...] about GOP Governor Candidates Stay The Course On Immigration Reform In California

Obama on Offense

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"Winning isn't everything," football coach Vince Lombardi famously said, "it's the only thing." Half a century later, as Republicans adapt that gridiron philosophy into a threat of political gridlock, Barack Obama is signaling it may not be a winning strategy. As Congress left town this weekend, the President did an end run around their blocking of his executive choices by … [Read more...] about Obama on Offense

Quote of the Day: Christopher Buckley on David Frum Leaving AEI

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Our political Quote of the Day comes from the Daily Beast's Christopher Buckley, son of the late non-talk-show-political-culture Republican conservative Willliam F. Buckley, writing about the news that former Bush speech writer David Frum was basically fired by the American Enterprise Institute after criticizing the GOP's "No no no!" stance on healthcare reform plus the … [Read more...] about Quote of the Day: Christopher Buckley on David Frum Leaving AEI

Poll: No More “Enthusiasm Gap” Between Political Parties

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A new Washington Post/ABC News poll indicates the "enthusiasm gap" between the GOP and Democrats has now virtually evaporated -- with 76% of Dems enthusiastic about voting this November versus 75% of Republicans. Just a few weeks ago polls showed the gap with the Democrats lagging far behind. What did it? Most likely the passage of health care reform. Liberal Democrats had … [Read more...] about Poll: No More “Enthusiasm Gap” Between Political Parties

Recess Appointment’s – Mikulski’s Other Foot

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U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) made this statement on CNN regarding Senate rules concerning presidential appointees and the Obama recess appointments made this weekend: "This is why we we ought to reform the institution," Mikulski said, noting the Senate's system of placing holds, sometimes anonymously or indefinitely, has started to "hold up function of … [Read more...] about Recess Appointment’s – Mikulski’s Other Foot

The Fight Against Obamacare Continues (Guest Voice)

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The Fight Against ObamaCare Continues by Floyd and Mary Beth Brown With benefits as notorious as Viagra for pedophiles and rapists, we watched in horror as the American way of life was fundamentally changed by Democratic members of the House of Representatives and Senate. Obama and Pelosi twisted arms and bribed members of Congress into supporting their massive new … [Read more...] about The Fight Against Obamacare Continues (Guest Voice)

The Unbearable Lightness of Reform (Guest Voice)

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The Unbearable Lightness of Reform by Bill Moyers and Michael Winship That wickedly satirical Ambrose Bierce described politics as "the conduct of public affairs for private advantage." Bierce vanished to Mexico nearly a hundred years ago - to the relief of the American political class of his day, one assumes - but in an eerie way he was forecasting America's political … [Read more...] about The Unbearable Lightness of Reform (Guest Voice)

Performing Arts: Rehearsal Versus Performance (Judy Garland)

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As a performer, I experience what performers throughout time have experienced: the rehearsals can be tedious, or focus on rote, or focus on getting down specific words, movements or music. But that magic -- that "organic" quality that makes it seem as if it has not been carefully rehearsed (often over and over and over) -- is what usually emerges in live performance so … [Read more...] about Performing Arts: Rehearsal Versus Performance (Judy Garland)

Military Spouse Tuition Is Too Popular, Gets Shut Down

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The Department of Defense has finally found a way to reduce its ungainly budget. No, not by cutting out waste and fraud, but on the backs of the spouses of the troops. The Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts program, MyCAA, began in 2009. It was designed to provide up to $6000 a year in tuition assistance for the spouses of active military personnel. At the start … [Read more...] about Military Spouse Tuition Is Too Popular, Gets Shut Down