What's all the hubub about Sotomayor?

Here's the thing, either you believe the constitution is a living breathing document that is subject to change (amendments) or you don't. Granted, there are certain inalienable rights that we possess as American citizens and the foundations of the constitution are strong and should be adhered to. However, it is my belief that times and people change and therefore the constitution should act as a guideline to determine if a law or amendment is unconstitutional.

As our citizenry changes and becomes more diverse, it is important that these groups are represented in all branches of government. No matter who you are, you have certain thoughts and feelings about various subjects in life and often these are carried into what you do. As these minority groups get more and more political power their views and positions are reflected more and more in government.

For example, if we strictly adhered to the original writing of the constitution without exception would blacks still be considered 3/5 of a person? Would women have the right to vote? Would we have all the civil rights that we have today? The answer is categorically no. It was because of the circumstances of the times, and the thoughts and feelings of the judges at that time that we now have these rights. Laws were made, which adhered to the basic principles of the constitution, but were not explicitly written into the constitution. For example, abortion is covered under the right to privacy.

It is for this reason that many people are excited about having not only another woman, but a hispanic woman who came from a poor background. The argument goes that because of her background and race she will be more empathetic to a very large portion of our population. In fact, in probably 10-20 years hispanics will make up the majority in this country.

Now, is it OK for a justice of the supreme court, or any judge for that matter, to be more sympathetic to one side or the other regardless of the law? Absolutely not. But does her background give her a "unique" perspective on the bench that perhaps many of the other justices who grew up privileged do not have? Most likely.

As long as she adheres to the law and the constitution, which her decisions clearly show that she has, I think she could be a valuable addition to the Supreme Court.

As for me, I just want a judge with a history of sound, logical, and fair jurisprudence. I couldn't care less about the race or gender of that person.

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What's the deal with the Republican Party?

Since Obama has been elected he has not been able work effectively with Wall St. and the stock market has continued to tumble. Also, Timothy Geithner is not helping the case, what with his extremely vague opening speech about how we're going to fix the economy; a speech which contained no definitive points on how we're actually going to fix the economy.

And I think that many conservatives are correct in their assumption that Obama's using "clever politics" in getting all of this spending provisioned in this bill for things like Healthcare and Education.

But I happen to agree with Obama's agenda and if this is how he can get the money needed to fix this country then so be it. And don't tell me that if the Republicans were in power they wouldn't be taking advantage of this economic situation to make the Bush tax cuts permanent and continue to stuff the pockets of the wealthiest Americans and purport that "trickle down economics" will continue to rule the day and fix the economy. The major difference here is the old trickle down economics vs. the Keynesian view of economics. I think we've seen how trickle down economics has worked for the past eight years.

I also think it is great that we are investing in the sciences, "going green", universal healthcare, and education, but Peggy Noonan made a great point on Morning Joe this morning. In a nutshell she said that we need to stabilize the economy first, and Obama should be focused primarily on stabilizing the economy, even in his speeches, and then he can roll out his agenda and go on tangents about why we need universal healthcare and education for everyone. I happen to agree with Ms. Noonan on this point.

The Obama administration has done well in most areas thus far, with the exception of getting the stock market to turn around and bring us out of this recession/depression. There are roughly 13 opening in Treasury that nobody wants, and the Obama administration is having a difficult time filling them. Hopefully we all realize that getting us out of this recession is going to take time and a lot of MONEY, but I think that the Obama administration could be doing a better job of getting us, and Wall St., some definitive answers on how they're going to start cleaning up this mess.

Now that being said, am I the only person who thinks the Republican party is a joke today? The minute Obama was elected, who becomes the face of the RNC? A black guy, Michael Steele, and an Indian, Bobby Jindal. This is why I really can't stand the Republican party; they must really think we're a bunch of mindless lemmings. It's almost as if they said, "Oh so you want a black guy? We'll give you a black guy!" As if race is all that matters here.

Am I alone on this? Does anyone else see through this? As much of a joke as this whole debacle between the RNC and Rush Limbaugh is, which is brilliant politics on the part of the Obama administartion I might add, I happen to think that Rush speaks for a vast majority of conservatives; as sad as that is.

OK, I'm getting off my soapbox.

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I'm Back!

I will be posting soon! Stay Tuned

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A New Hope

Americans made history on Tuesday, November 4, 2008.  Not only did Americans elect the first African-American President, but they also decided that they wanted real change to come to Washington and the country as a whole.  Looking back at this election season, this whole campaign was about a choice between holding onto the politics of the past, or embracing the 21st century and looking to dictate what the tone will be and the direction the United States will take.

Of particular significance with the election of Barack Obama is the reaction around the world.  When it was announced that Barack Obama was elected President of the United States there was streaming video of celebrations throughout the globe.  It is clear that with the election of Barack Obama as President, the damage done by the Bush administration to America's standing in the world has begun to be repaired.  Countries around the world are beginning to look at America as a beacon of freedom and true democracy again.  It remains to be seen if an Obama administration will maintain this view but it is a telling sign of an increasingly globalized world.
With the overwhelming victory that Barack Obama and the democrats share in this election, it is clear that the American people are looking for this administration to reverse the tide of eight years of failed policies that have been a major contributor of the current state of the nation.  In addition, it symbolizes a rejection of the Republican party's message.  American's are tired of the divisive politics that have plagued this country for decades.
This victory also demonstrates that Americans have embraced Barack Obama's world view, and are eager to move ahead in the 21st century.  The cold war is over, the population is becoming increasingly diverse with projections that whites will soon be the minority in the United States, and younger generations are stepping up and ensuring that they have a say in the direction the country is headed.

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Who Is The Real John McCain?

We've been hearing a lot from the McCain campaign these last few days about "Who is the real Barack Obama?" I would like to know who the real John McCain is.  I always thought that I knew a great deal about John McCain and respected him and his service to this country.  However, since he's began his bid for the presidency he has completely thrown his ideals out the window, and switched his position on several issues as I've written about before. In addition his general demeanor and obvious temper has been coming through as the campaign winds up.

We've seen his erratic behavior in times of crisis, his snap decisions throughout the campaign, like his appointment of Sarah Palin as Vice Presidential nominee and his "non-suspension" of his campaign during the financial meltdown.  It has become apparent that John McCain will do just about anything to become President of the United States.
But why?  Who is John McCain and why does he want to be President?  Is it truly because he wants to put the "country first?"
In a recent article in Rolling Stone Magazine John Dramesi, an Air Force Lt. Colonel who was with John McCain during his days in a Hanoi prison camp was quoted as saying: "McCain says his life changed while he was in Vietnam, and he is now a different man...but he's still the undisciplined, spoiled brat that he was when he went in."
Please read the full article from Rolling Stone Magazine written by Tim Dickinson who is a registered Republican and voted for McCain in the 2000 primary; it's eye opening and gives us great insight into who John McCain is and what motivates him.  The article is lengthy but well worth reading.
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain

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Can We Vote Already?

What was a three ring circus has now become a four ring circus, if there is such a thing.  With nineteen days until the 2008 Presidential election, and Obama leading in key counties in battleground states across the country, according to www.politico.com, McCain has made one last desperate, spontaneous, and erratic move to try and regain some ground.  Enter "Joe the Plumber."
Anyone who watched the debate on Wednesday night and hasn't been living under a rock for the last couple days knows who "Joe the Plumber" is.  The McCain campaign has once again put the full weight of their campaign behind an individual who has emerged to celebrity status from total obscurity.  According to McCain campaign officials they did not thoroughly vet this individual before thrusting him into the national media scene, and first learned about him from reading The Drudge Report.  Well it's too bad that they didn't vet "Joe" because the media has and have found some pretty interesting facts.

Turns out "Joe the Plumber" is not a licensed plumber, "never served an apprenticeship and does not belong to the union" according to The New York Times.  It also turns out the "Joe the Plumber" who's real name is Samuel, owes $1,182 in backed taxes and does not make $250,000 a year meaning that Obama's plan would currently give "Samuel the non-licensed plumber" a tax break.  It also turns out that plumbers across America seem to think that they would do much better under an Obama-Biden administration as "The national plumber's union, the United Association of Plumbers, Steamfitters, and Service Mechanics, endorsed Mr. Obama" according to The New York Times.
It's pretty clear that Senator McCain is desperate here, and it says a lot about his judgement and the judgement of his campaign staff, who could potentially become his cabinet members, to make a move like this.  However, they do bring up an interesting question that is fundamental to this campaign.  McCain raised the question in the debate in asking Obama why he would want to cut people's taxes in a time of such financial turmoil, and Obama responded in kind by reminding McCain that under his tax plan corporations would continue to receive billions of dollars in tax breaks.
This issue is very important to explore and is one that the country is deeply divided over.  The issue is a redistribution of wealth in this country.  It's a known fact that a very small percentage of the population in this country controls the great majority of the wealth, and therefore the power.  Under the Bush administration this small percentage of the population and large corporations have done quite well while much of the rest of the country has suffered, and these economic problems have been exacerbated by the recent economic downturn.  With Senator Obama's tax plan, 95% of individuals in this country would get a tax break and taxes would be raised for those making over $250,000.  There are many exceptions for small businesses in Obama's tax plan and only 2% of small businesses in this country make over $250,000 a year.
There are really two schools of thought here, and they are wildly different.  If you make a lot of money you are entitled to keep as much of it as you can, which involves the many loopholes that currently exist in our tax system that allows those with the most to pay a very small amount of taxes.  The idea being that if those wealthy individuals have money to invest and start businesses etc. the money will "trickle down" to the lower classes.  The other school of thought is based on the idea that those who make more money should pay more in taxes, and those making less should get relief from the tax system and not the other way around.  This way, the lower classes are guaranteed some relief.
Warren Buffet is worth an estimated $52 Billion and famously said in June of this year that "The 400 of us [here] pay a lower part of our income than our receptionists do, our cleaning ladies, for that matter.  If you're in the luckiest 1 percent of humanity you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 percent" according to www.thetimes.com.  He demonstrated this fact by showing that he was only taxed at a rate of 17.7% last year while his secretary was taxed at a rate of 30% of her income.  Who do you think needs that money more, and shouldn't the wealthy be taxed at at least the same rate as lower income individuals?  Yes, Warren Buffet paid more money in taxes, but as a percentage of income it was about half what his secretary paid.
This is the crux of Obama's argument and Senator McCain's campaign is trying to make it about raising taxes on the average "Joe's."  You know, "Joe the Plumber," "Joe Six-Pack," and "Hockey Mom's across America!"  In reality these people are going to do much better under an Obama adminstration than under the McCain administration which will continue the failed tax and economic policies of the Bush administration. What is odd about this issue is that many American's don't understand it.  They have continued to buy into the "tax and spend" label of the Democrats that the Republicans put forth.
What's also interesting about this campaign cycle is that it's the Democrat who is proposing massive tax cuts for the majority of the country, and McCain is now asking why Senator Obama would want to cut people's taxes during this time of economic turmoil; my how the tables have turned.
The bottom line is that this is just another distraction in a long line of distractions during this campaign season.  The last thing the American people need during these times is distractions from the important issues that should be front and center in this campaign; and the media is being too easily distracted by these circus acts.  This isn't a time for politics, it's a time for leadership.

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Just the Facts

Here are the facts on the latest distortions from both campaigns courtesy of www.factcheck.org

 

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