See the entire story here.



According to the AP, some 60 protestors carrying signs and chanting, stood in the blistering heat outside the federal courthouse in Louisville today. McConnel is leading a Republican filibuster blocking the extension of unemployment benefits at a time when unemployment is high.

The local NBC affiliate carried this story but the comment section was probably the most enlightening portion of the story.

Someone calling themselves, "Angry" wrote:

"First off, my wife lost her job late last year after working for 10+yrs because they can hire someone else in at half the pay. Kentucky has a at-will employment which means that a employer can terminate you for any reason- legit or not.

We have kids and a small home, when this happened it devasted us and emptied our savings and what little 401K I had to keep us afloat. This is not a welfare program that we are just trying to help ourselves too, there are no jobs period. She has looked and so have I but the jobs dont exist. Wait till you are told that that you are over qualified and they cant hire you, thats the bottom line... Employers are cutting jobs to get through this "recession/depression" because they can make people do more with less.

We have been struggling and may not make it another month unless they pass this extension. "Yes", there are lazy people out there that are abusing the system and unless unemployment office starts finding jobs for people then it will continue. But to cutoff benefits to those that need it and deserve it is another thing.

So, those arrogant enough to say its not needed, then lets see you get fired or laid off and see how fast you will be changing your tune. Hypocrites."

Please see the article for links to where and how you can help, this is a dire situation:

Nashville's NBC affiliate, WSMV, will host a Flood Relief Telethon to help flood victims in the ongoing Tennessee flood disaster that has triggered emergency declarations in 21 counties with more expected to come. The only way to watch the telethon is on Nashville's Channel 4, or through live streaming on your computer's internet connection. Simply go to WSMV at 7:00 P.M. Central time to watch.

So far 19 people are dead from the catastrophic flooding in Tennessee and the number is expected to rise. In Nashville, the search is on for missing persons who disappeared in floodwaters as well as those who haven't been heard from by friends and family.

Earlier today, the Director of FEMA, Craig Fugate spoke before the camera in Nashville to answer questions and disseminate information. He said that since FEMA began accepting applications for emergency relief in Nashville over 8500 people had registered and said that that number is expected to rise quickly. Fugate said that the first response will be to the people who are in shelters in the form of renter's assistance.

Fugate said that normally FEMA would go through a process of counting and referencing in order to declare an area eligible for federal disaster assistance but that in the case of the Nashville flood, the need was "self-evident." Fugate said that since becoming Director of FEMA, the Nashville catastrophe was the most devastating event he had seen.

See the rest of the photos here.







You can see in the right hand background LP field where the Titans play.

Excerpt:

Today, according to the Office of the Press Secretary, President Obama "declared a major disaster exists in the State of Tennessee and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts."

19 people have died in Tennessee since the storms and flooding began and the death toll is expected to rise as the waters of the flooded Cumberland River recede.

Some of Nashville's most historic landmarks have been affected by the flooding including the Opryland Hotel where hundreds of people had to be evacuated, the Ryman Auditorium (original home of the Grand Ol' Opry) and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Excerpt from main article:



The GOP seems intent on becoming a small tent party, an exclusive club of people who walk the line set out, some hint, by Minority leader Mitch McConnell (KY). Republicans who once sponsored or co-sponsored immigration reform bills, Republicans like John McCain of Arizona, suddenly became hearty supporters of the Arizona 'papers please' bill passed into law by the Governor of Arizona last week.

The only recalcitrant Republicans who get a pass are conservative Republicans who call themselves good Christian men but who have lurid affairs outside of marriage. Conservative Republican Aseemblyman, Michael Duvall was caught on tape bragging about his sexual exploits. Republican South Carolina Governor, Mark Sanford tearfully confessed that he hadn't been hiking the Appalachian trail at all during his mysterious disappearance last year. Instead he was with his mistress in Argentina. Nevada Senator John Ensign paid his mistress, her husband and their son on advice from his creepy C Street 'brothers.' It seems that Republicans can do or say whatever they like as long as they don't like President Obama.

When Republicans went postal on anti-immigration in the last week, it was not just disappointing, it was bewildering. As a party that is shrinking in size and power, they have very effectively cut a large swathe through the population that could be potential Republicans and they've done it with gusto. Other states' Republican leaders have vowed to follow Arizona's lead and make it legal and indeed mandatory to check anyone who might appear to be Hispanic for 'papers' in their own states.

A 2008 Census Bureau report projects that by 2042, non-Hispanic whites will no longer make up the majority of the population, where it is projected to fall from 68% in 2008 to 46% in 2042. Hispanics are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States and the draconian measures made by the state of Arizona earlier this week and the threats by other Republicans to follow suit simply makes no sense in terms of the future of the Republican party.

In just a few decades, Hispanics and other minorities will outnumber white people in the U.S. If the GOP continues to alienate every group of citizens who is non-white, the party cannot survive.

Excerpt, read full article here.

When our elected leaders do nothing to condemn or prevent threats of violence and hate speech, in effect, they implicitly condone the behavior. The hate speech revved up very soon after the election of America's first black president and it hasn't slowed. The lack of respect, the hate speech, and the vitriol is the equivalent of adult bullying.

15 year old Phoebe Prince was tormented for months by 9 other students at her high school in Massachusetts. The victim's mother repeatedly asked school officials to intervene but the school failed to protect the girl. She was harassed verbally and through social networking site, Facebook, and sent hate text messages.

The culture of bullying isn't limited to school children, it has become a national pastime. During the 2008 Presidential campaign, crowds attending Sarah Palin rallies shouted, "Kill him" over and over again referring to President Obama. Neither Palin or any other GOP leaders condemned the vile shouts of their followers.

Tea party activists carry signs depicting the American president as the devil, the anti-Christ, Hitler and worse. They carry guns to rallies and their paranoiac fear of the government has turned into hate and aggression.

The hate speech and vitriol isn't limited to the Tea Party sect. Texas congressman Randy Neugebauer shouted "baby killer" at anti-abortionist, Bart Stupak because he signed the health care reform bill after being assured that no federal funds would be used to pay for abortion.

Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann (MN), along with other GOP colleagues egged on Tea-party protestors outside the White House as they shouted racial slurs and other hate speech at Democratic colleagues entering the White House to vote on health care reform.

At town hall meetings around the country set up to discuss health care reform, anecdotes had a common theme. A majority of the audience would be bused in from out of state to "gin up" (to borrow a favorite Sarah Palin phrase) the GOP's relentless determination to obstruct not just health care reform but any and everything the Democrats in office proposed. The few local people attending town hall meetings were often represented by chronically and seriously sick individuals along with health care professionals. In town after town, the large crowd of bused in supporters shouted at people toting oxygen tanks with tales of losing jobs and health insurance to "sit down and shut up."

This adult bullying by tea party sects, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Michele Bachmann and other GOP officials, is protected by the First Amendment. The First Amendment gives every American the right to use hate speech. But if leaders of the GOP who have seemingly aligned themselves with the Tea party and whose own elected colleagues have participated in the violent rhetoric and oral bullying continue to ignore such antics, by their silence, they condone the behavior of people who attend their rallies as well as the colleagues who urge them on.

Is it any real surprise then, that children are emulating the current culture of bullying without recourse? Nine students bullied Massachusetts student Phoebe Prince, aged 15, for months through verbal insults, text messages and on the internet. Sound familiar? It should. The nine girls who relentlessly bullied Phoebe may simply be emulating the current political culture of hate and bullying. School officials were aware of the bullying and didn't intervene even though the girl's mother repeatedly asked school officials for help for her tormented daughter.

Excerpt:
While looking through a book I found an old Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance bill from 1966 for a single woman in Atlanta. Her bill was $16.38 for a three month period. That equates to $5.46 a month.



In 1966, the minimum wage was $1.25. So the woman who received the insurance bill made at least $200 a month. If we assume the woman was working for minimum wage, her health insurance costs per month were 2.73% of her wages.

Today, minimum wage in Georgia and Alabama is $7.25. That equates to $1160 per month. Let's compare the cost of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama for a single woman living in Birmingham today.



The Birmingham woman pays $567 per month for her health insurance with Blue Cross Blue Shield. If we assume this woman is making minimum wage, she makes $1160 per month and her health insurance costs per month are 48.9% of her wages.

Excerpt:

Americans are fed up. Americans are tired of not only the GOP's efficient obstructionism but also with the Democrats who have allowed the minority to prevent government from working. Republicans were thrilled when Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts seat went to a Republican instead of a Democrat for the first time in decades. But they overlooked something very fundamental about the Brown win. A major part of Scott Brown's campaign platform included a promise that if they sent him to Washington, he would reach across the aisle to work with Democrats. And Massachusetts voters, like the rest of America would be, were delighted at the prospect of an elected representative who would actually go to Washington to work with his colleagues to serve the public interest.

Republicans aren't paying attention. They are sifting through the information and picking the bits they want to believe and dismissing the bigger picture. Some tea baggers and many Republicans believe the GOP should become even more conservative than it already is. If there was anything to take away from the 23rd District election in New York, it is that the voters don't want a country that is even more conservative than it already is. The 23rd District of New York is notoriously conservative and they chose the Democrat over the ultra conservative Hoffman.

What the GOP should have learned from the Scott Brown election is that voters want a representative who will work in Washington, one who will reach across the aisle to try to move the country forward. Instead they deemed the Brown win a win against health care reform. Their early elation at his election turned to outrage when Senator Brown had the nerve to allow a bill concerned with providing jobs to Americans to move forward. Senator Brown may have disappointed the obstructionist GOP collective but he is smarter than they are. He understands that the voters back home in Massachusetts want the person who represents them in Washington to actually work for them.

Senator Chuck Grassley gave anecdotal evidence of what his constituents wanted using as his proof, his experience over the summer of 2009 in town hall meetings. Half the people attending town hall meetings were bussed in from around the country. He seemed to honestly believe that the people who came to his town hall meetings and voiced their fears about death panels offered a true representations of the average American.

When Republican Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming suggested that poor people buy catastrophic health insurance, it was shocking to realize he was in earnest. The man is so out of touch with the average American that one could almost feel sorry for him if it weren't for the fact that he was so genuinely devoid of compassion for people less fortunate than himself. In states like Alabama, catastrophic health insurance isn't an option for poor people or any people. But that's not the point. One of the reasons our country is ranked 37th in the nation by the World Health Organization is because of the high price of health care and lack of prophylactic care which leads to preventable deaths. One would think that Mr. Barrasso who has a degree in medicine would understand the importance of preventative medicine, something catastrophic health insurance isn't concerned with.

It was never more clear than at yesterday's Health Care Summit that the Republican mantra of 'let's start over' is a stalling tactic when our nation is in the midst of a health care crisis that directly effects the economy. Republicans don't want health care reform. They probably hated it that President Obama invited them to an open Summit meeting where they would have to pretend to be interested in helping Americans who are in crisis. It was transparency in the truest sense. The GOP are so out of touch with the growing number of Americans in crisis that their feeble suggestions and compassionless speeches at the Summit were not only embarrassing for them but shocking to many Americans who watched the event. Never before have Republicans seemed to be so out of touch with the needs of the people they were elected to serve.

I watched the Health Care Summit live on Facebook today and participated in a forum where other viewers were able to discuss the summit live. The vast majority of people posting there today appeared to be in favor of both a public option and reconciliation. Here are just a few of the remarks:

3:54pm
they will not pass Health Care Reform, perhaps they will provide coffins.
3:54pm
CBO.
3:54pm
Paying for health care IS a budget item.
3:54pm
we are not by of and for the people, havent been for quite awhile.
3:54pm
Oh no! No John!
3:54pm
Get it done with 51!
3:55pm
Budget neutral good for Dingle.
3:54pm
Do you suppose people like Sean Hannity, Keith Olbermann, Glenn Beck, Rachel Maddow and Chris Mathews hang out in here under pseudonyms.
3:54pm
"After all, including legal fees, insurance costs, and payouts, the cost of the suits comes to less than one-half of 1 percent of health-care spending." http://www.slate.com/id/2145400 /.
3:55pm
USA only 1st world nation without national healthcare. Shame on you politicians. We should vote you all out.
3:55pm
Long Live Nancy Pelosi!!!
3:55pm
RECONCILIATE.
3:55pm
Give em Hell Nancy.
3:55pm
Argh, I can't stand Pelosi. She needs to get off her high horse.
3:55pm
"Get it done with 51!" I like that!
3:55pm
President Obama exhibited leadership that we can be proud of.
3:55pm
Lets just get the 51 votes!!
health care is not a right.
Good bumpersticker: Get 'er done with 51!


You can read the rest at the link above. This was only about 20 minutes of the discussion and it's long, even though I left out the rambling Walmart discussion that populated the forum for most of the summit.

Excerpt:



It is unfortunate for the Obama administration that they haven't delivered the message that the ARRA or stimulus program has saved and created jobs. In a New York Times/CBS News poll, only 6% of Americans polled believe that the stimulus has already created jobs. 41% believe the stimulus act will create jobs.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as the stimulus program has helped many states and local governments and has created millions of jobs. President Obama has stated that the stimulus program staved off a 1929 style depression. But the message hasn't gotten to the people as the NY Times/CBS poll shows. In fact, many people appear to confuse TARP with ARRA. TARP was the bill that was passed by President Bush at the end of his administration to stave off the 'collapse' of the banks that were too big to fail (saving Wall Street). The ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) was passed by President Obama one year ago today and has fed billions of dollars into creating jobs, updating infrastructure and helping local governments, along with cutting taxes.

Excerpt, you can read the rest here.

One can only imagine what the tea party goers willing to fork over $500 for the privilege of attending the convention in Nashville believe because there seems to be little cohesion among them other than a general agreement of anger.

The tea party nation is elitist. They are people who can afford to pay over $500 to attend conventions, plus travel and accommodation expenses. They also have the financial means to travel all over the nation attending rallies at the behest of their likeliest leader, entertainer Glenn Beck. Most are anti-abortion but want the government to stay out of their lives. They want the government to limit the freedom American women have over their own reproduction while saying they want less government intervention in American lives. They don't seem to understand the paradox of inflicting their values on others by using the government while advocating smaller government.

The tea party isn't the Libertarian party. The only thing the two have in common are a desire for less government and the tea party doesn't understand that less government means less "God-fearing" and less intervention into women's reproductive rights. They don't seem to understand you can't have it both ways.

During the elitist Nashville tea party convention, Palin invoked the name of Ronald Reagan several times during her speech. Yet if President Reagan were alive, he would certainly not be a member of the tea party nation and would recognize that Sarah Palin is no more than a rabble rouser, one without creditable character or substance.

Sarah Palin invoked God in her Nashville speech as well. One wonders how she would interpret President Reagans' propensity to ask advice of astrologers instead of God. Palin criticized President Obama for using a teleprompter but so do most politicians, including the revered Ronald Reagan. Palin's criticism of President Obama for using a teleprompter seemed petty and tired especially considering that she had to refer to notes she wrote in her hand to answer the pre-screened questions from Chris Wallace of Fox cable network.

Palin said that the Republican party would do well to embrace the tea party nation but the Republican party doesn't appear to be embracing or rejecting Sarah Palin. The Republican party appears to be almost as afraid of Sarah Palin as they are of Rush Limbaugh.

Excerpt:

The Food Research and Action Center in collaboration with Gallup have been tracking what they term "food hardship" over the last two years. The poll question asked 535,715 adults, "Have there been times in the past twelve months when you did not have enough money to buy food that you or your family needed?"

The question was asked in all 50 states and in the largest Metropolitan Statistical areas as well as Congressional Districts. In 20 states, more than one in five answered "yes" to the question.

Families with children under 18 fared worse than single adults and the highest number of people responding with "yes" were in southern states.

26.2% of people in Mississippi responded yes. Mississippi was ranked first of the states in terms of food hardship. Below are the rankings for the states with the highest numbers of people who were unable to buy the food they needed in 2009:

(this is followed by a table of the top 10 states along with links, etc.)

Since President Obama was elected as President, white supremacy groups claim their membership numbers have jumped. The movement has gained traction with the 'tea party movement' as the following documentary shows.

The documentary is 24 minutes long but well worth the watch.