Cleo's Mom

Alcohol is also legal, but I don't have a problem with people having to be off of drugs to receive benefits. You can't allow someone with a criminal record to live with you if you live in section 8 housing and I'm fine with that, too. In Connecticut, and I'm sure other states as well, if a welfare recipient worked, the amount of money they made when they worked was subtracted from their welfare benefits. Now, why would anyone work? That doesn't make sense. So, when they changed the law, more people had an incentive to work. I support these common sense changes. But I don't support eliminating the programs because some abuse it. And when the republicans were in power they could have set the wheels in motion to reduce these programs over time and they didn't. Yes, it would have been hard but that shouldn't have swayed them.

The government sets income levels, among other things to be eligible for government assistance. Many of those who receive it are the working poor. There is no way to monitor how someone spends their paychecks once they qualify for government aid. And it is mainly their incomes that make them eligible. And smoking is legal, so peeing in a cup would be unconstitutional to monitor for it. You also didn't answer my question about why the republicans didn't eliminate all these government assistance programs when they had all the power (if indeed it is the democrats who promote them, as you claim)?

First you were against the public option because it would put those poor private health insurance companies out of business. Now the plan doesn't have a public option and you are complaining about rationing, which also won't happen. The plan mostly covers those without insurance. It really doesn't affect those with insurance. Because most of that is through an employer. An employer, however, can change the company that it uses for health insurance, but that is their call, not the governement's. So all this talk about government control is just nonsense and not true.

Pattygreen: This is the problem with democrats. They enable people to be dependant on the government for their needs, instead of themselves. They are afraid to let the consequences for the peoples actions, or lack of actions,to occur. Then when the republicans controlled the white house, the senate and congress why didn't they do away with the food stamp program? The food stamp program cannot define eligibility based on whether someone smokes or not. They would deny they do if it did. Food stamps do not cover tobacco products and you can't stop someone from buying them with their own money.

BJean: What a horribly sad story that didn't have to end that way. I wonder if husbands would choose to let their wives die to save the baby if they were told that they too would have to die if their wife did. Your bil's young wife never got a chance to live her life. To have more children and watch them grow. This story illustrates real life and how those who make the wrong decision can affect so many people. Very sad.

Another right-wing buzz word to add to my list: rationing. 1) Please explain how the insurance companies, right now, denying a procedure is NOT rationing. 2) For rationing to NOT be taking place right now, that means that 100% of everyone who requires a procedure gets that procedure. Prove that everyone gets all the procedures they require under our existing plans. 3) Show me in the healthcare bill where there will be a U.S. Dept. of Wellness 4) Without a public option, show me in the bill where there would be socialism (aside from the existing medicare/medicaid, which of course are not new). 5) And finally - England's healthcare system has nothing to do with our current or proposed healthcare reform. It is irrelevant to this discussion. .

btr: Obama won the nomination because he was running against the most hated woman in America. He won the presidency because of McCain's awful choice of one of the dumbest women in America as a running mate. Actually, McCain's polling numbers went up after he picked Palin because she energized the conservative base. They went down after his erratic and confused handling of the economic crisis in Sept. 2008 and never really rebounded after that. I think Obama's victory was also a rejection of bush's policies. People had had enough of his way of handling (or ignoring) problems.

From Michelle: Criticisim durring elections may be normal, but democrats went as far to say that McCain was unpatriotic because he did not salute. There is nothing for me to get over, I was not a huge fan of McCain either. Actually, that was Obama who was criticized for not putting his hand over his heart during the national anthem and for not wearing a flag pin, not McCain. Obama was constantly labeled unpatriotic. But maybe I missed something. If you can produce the criticism of McCain for not saluting, I would be very interested. Wasn't McCain in the Navy? They don't salute in the Navy. And P.S. I was saying "get over it" to McCain and Palin about losing and still acting like they are campaigning, not you.

And a health care package that MOST Americans don't want is a success? Obama was elected in part because he promised healthcare reform. This should not have come as a surprise to anyone. If they didn't want healthcare reform he wouldn't have won. But the healthcare reform has been so demonized and people believe the anti-healthcare soundbites without doing the research. When the healthcare reform is explained to people piece by piece they support the changes in it. Now, I am not happy with the bill as is. I wanted a public option and I don't think it's tough enough on the greedy insurance companies, but I think much of it is good.

Not only isn't that true, but I try not to make personal insults part of my posts. I'm sure I have but not usually. I will, however, call out anyone who I think is perpetuating a lie or misperception. I will give my opinion and add facts to back it up. But to say that I haven't made a post that doesn't have a hateful putdown of anyone who doesn't think the way I do is just another of your broad generalizations that not only isn't true but offensive. :tt1:

I don't think you want to take that chance that he might change his mind. He might not and in this case, it literally would be a case of life and death. Also, in most cases where the mother's life is in jeopardy, if the pregnancy isn't terminated BOTH mother and baby die. What sense does that make?

Clinton and Gore never criticized bush when bush was in office. The democrats didn't have to wish that bush would fail. His policies were failures. And those who criticized bush were called unpatriotic, unamerican and on the side of the terrorists. I haven't seen anyone saying that about the Obama critics even though he is a war president, too. Criticism during elections is normal - the back and forth, but the election is over and Obama won but McCain and Palin are still in campaign mode. Get over it. The statement was about civility. And I stand by my analysis.

jessress: Thank you for your thoughful post. One thing that you said requires that I respond to it. You absolutely have the right to live if your pregnancy were to jeopardize your life. And I am appalled that anyone would think otherwise. Make sure that when your fiancee becomes your husband that you appoint someone else as your power of attorney because if you find yourself in that position you will die. You are already life, living and with people loving you and depending on you (if perhaps you have other children). Even if you believe life begins at conception - weighing whether the mom's life or the embryo's or fetus's life has more value - well the mom's does. And we place value on human life all the time in terms of how much we are willing to spend to save one life, in jury awards for wrongful deaths, etc.. The mom's life always trumps that of the fetus when the mom's life is in jeopardy. Always. No debate in my view. So, no you are not a bad person and shouldn't feel guilty about feeling that way and wanting to live, but your fiancee already told you how he feels so do NOT put him in the position of making that life and death medical decision for you. Give another family member that agrees with you that authority. Again, thank you for your opinions and post.

On this last point you have got to be kidding! More civil? Joe "you lie" Wilson said that to the president of the United States while speaking to a joint session of congress and the american people. Jim DeMint saying that he hopes the healthcare would be Obama's waterloo. He wasn't interested in the welfare of the american people, just the downfall of Obama. He also blocked the Obama appointee to the TSA because the appointee supports union. We know how important the TSA is to airport security and this position is not filled. Then we have the republican congressmen ducking for cover when news reporters approached them outside (and inside) the capital about whether they thought Pres. Obama was born in the U.S. None would commit. None would say yes, of course. (Actually, I think one might have). My republican congressman ran into and then hid out in the capital bookstore supposedly engrossed in a book for 20 minutes rather than answer the question. Elected congressmen don't think Obama was born in the US. Really? This is civil? Or even sane? Then you have Dick Cheney who almost daily is bashing Obama about national security. This is almost unprecedented that a former VP publicly criticizes a sitting president. It is very bad protocol. And how hypocritical for the man who was part of the administration who didn't keep us safe on 9/11 and then got EVERYTHING wrong about Iraq (greeted as liberators, there for a few months, maybe a year or two, oil revenues would pay for the war and the biggie: WMD's). And let's not forget that if anyone DARED criticize bush they would be called unpatriotic, giving comfort to the terrorists, etc.. Then you have Boehner (a/k/a Mr. Coppertone), McCain and Giluiani adding their almost daily criticisms. And of course there's "Obama pals around with terrorists" and he creates "death panels" Palin. Very civil, indeed. More civil? Hardly!

Michelle: There are some politicians who are still moderate also. The only Republicans elected in DC who I might say are moderate are Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. In the house, not a single republican voted for the Lily Ledbetter bill allowing women to sue when paid less than men. That's not reflective of being a moderate. Not a single republican in the house or senate voted for healthcare. That's not being moderate. Not a single republican in the house and only 3 in the senate voted for the stimulus. That is not being moderate. One republican senator has since switched to democrat. In other words, not a single republican has voted for one bill or item on Obama's agenda. Thus the label of the party of no. Many of the moderate republicans in the general population (not all) left the republican party and switched to independent before the 2008 election. The entire elected southern republican constituency is very conservative. There are no republican senators in the New England states except for the two women I mentioned. The elected republicans in DC couldn't wait to start bashing Pres. Obama after he became president. First they wanted him to fix the economy but criticized and didn't vote for the stimulus. Then when he started to push healthcare, they criticized him for not focusing on Afghanistan or making his decision quickly enough. So, then he made the decision. So then they started to bash him for not focusing on jobs. So, he held a jobs summit in early Dec. and then proposed using some of the paid back bank bail out money to use in a jobs bill passed by the house (not the senate yet). So then then after the Dec. 25th underwear bomber they criticized him for not focusing on the "war on terror" . So, you see? No matter what issue he focuses on, the republicans will criticize him for not focusing on something else. Their single agenda is this: don't support anything Pres. Obama wants, hope that he fails, and hope that that helps us get more republicans elected. This is not how moderates operate.

Pattygreen: Christians (usually conservative republicans) for the most part try to live moral, virtuous, nonsinful lives. First of all, "conservative republican" is redundant, because they are all conservative. I don't think there are any moderate republicans left particularly among those elected to office. However, I just wonder if it is MORAL to mislead or outright lie, because listen to what these conservative republicans have said: Dana Perino said on Fox: We did not have a domestic attack during bush's administration. A month later Mary Matalin said: bush inherited 9/11 from Clinton. Yesterday, Rudy Giuliani said that we never had a domestic attack under bush but we had one under Obama. Now, I ask you - do these people think the American public is really that stupid? Apparently. Those on the right just make things up and keep repeating it. And when they repeat it often enough eventually some people begin to believe it. They reduce things to some emotional, hate filled sound bite: death panels, obamacare, socialism, hitler, nazi. This is because they are unable to engage in meaningful, intelligent, fact-based discussions. Maybe they don't want to do that because they don't have the facts on their side.

Well, I happen to think Texas is a bed of corruption (does Tom DeLay ring a bell or R. Allen Stanford?) And I have no reason not to believe Pres. Obama. Did/do you believe that bush lied?

You simply ignore the facts in favor of your opinion time after time. We have only seen a few small snippets of what this preacher said over 20 years and we don't know if Obama was there when he said it. If videos existed for all of the past 20 years with him preaching something extreme at every service, I am sure it would have been posted on you tube by now. I think we have seen all that there is to see and Obama might not have been at those services. If I am not personally at a service, I don't know what my clergyman says.

While you're patting yourself on the back and singing the praises of your fellow conservatives as doing wrong less than liberals and being more moral, let me add what else I think conservatives are more likely to be: 1) judgemental 2) bigoted 3) mean-spirited 4) intolerant and last but not least 5) hypocritical

Welcome back, Electrawoman. Do you mind telling us where you went? I'm up to my neck in snow and freezing temps. so it would be nice to know someone might have been enjoying the sun and warmth. The screaming people you see on the news are the vocal MINORITY. They just get the media attention because they are so loud. But they don't represent mainstream america. Thankfully.

You forgot Reagan's tax cut for the rich when he lowered the tax rate on the upper income from 70% to 28% (read that again to let it sink in). So where do you think that lost revenue had to be made up? Actually, nobody made it up, since it created a deficit, correct? Aaaaaaaaand, those tax cuts stimulated the economy that Carter led into sluggishness. And I haven't even gone into the technological and medical innovations that were the result of big corporations spending more on R&D. When Reagan lowered the tax rate on the rich by a whopping 60% he raised the social security and medicare tax. This tax is only applied on the first $100,000 or so. This tax hits the middle class harder since ALL of their salary is taxed, but doesn't really affect all that much those rich who had their tax rate lowered.

While I recognize that NOTHING Obama does or did would satisfy the right wing radical/conservatives, the following satisfies me and shows a condemnation of what Rev. Wright espouses: UPDATES: Barack Obama Big News Page The pastor of my church, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who recently preached his last sermon and is in the process of retiring, has touched off a firestorm over the last few days. He's drawn attention as the result of some inflammatory and appalling remarks he made about our country, our politics, and my political opponents. Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it's on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue. Because these particular statements by Rev. Wright are so contrary to my own life and beliefs, a number of people have legitimately raised questions about the nature of my relationship with Rev. Wright and my membership in the church. Let me therefore provide some context. As I have written about in my books, I first joined Trinity United Church of Christ nearly twenty years ago. I knew Rev. Wright as someone who served this nation with honor as a United States Marine, as a respected biblical scholar, and as someone who taught or lectured at seminaries across the country, from Union Theological Seminary to the University of Chicago. He also led a diverse congregation that was and still is a pillar of the South Side and the entire city of Chicago. It's a congregation that does not merely preach social justice but acts it out each day, through ministries ranging from housing the homeless to reaching out to those with HIV/AIDS. Most importantly, Rev. Wright preached the gospel of Jesus, a gospel on which I base my life. In other words, he has never been my political advisor; he's been my pastor. And the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn. The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church. Let me repeat what I've said earlier. All of the statements that have been the subject of controversy are ones that I vehemently condemn. They in no way reflect my attitudes and directly contradict my profound love for this country. With Rev. Wright's retirement and the ascension of my new pastor, Rev. Otis Moss, III, Michelle and I look forward to continuing a relationship with a church that has done so much good. And while Rev. Wright's statements have pained and angered me, I believe that Americans will judge me not on the basis of what someone else said, but on the basis of who I am and what I believe in; on my values, judgment and experience to be President of the United States.

Gee, you better call Gibbs and tell him he got it wrong!! Gibbs: Obama Willing To Be One-Term President To Get Health Care, 'Important Things' Done President Obama is "quite comfortable" with being a one-term president if that's the price he has to pay to get "important things done," including health care reform, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said today. I have heard the president say that, if making tough decisions in getting important things done that Washington has failed to deal with for decades means he only lives in this house and makes these decisions for four years, he's quite comfortable with that. Gibbs said he hadn't heard him say that "specifically on health care," but said it applied to issues including reform, the economy, Afghanistan and Iraq. "The way he approaches [these issues] is not in a mode of self preservation, but in a mode of how best, given all the information out there, how best he can make decisions in the best interest of the American people," he said, "not what's in the best interest of his polling numbers." Last week, Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-IA) told a town hall that he'd heard Obama say he was willing to lose his chances at re-election over health care reform. How refreshing for a president to put the welfare of the american people above his political future, unlike bush who upped the terror threat level before the Nov. 2004 election and had cheney out there saying how if the democrats got elected we'd all die.

Pattygreen: "A conservative tends to have higher moral standards than a liberal". Were you laughing when you wrote that? Because I was laughing when I read it. Seriously?? I offer the following as exhibit A (space does not allow me to go further back than these years, but should you want, I can go back to the early 90's -lots more!) 2009 Mike Duvall, a Republican politician and a former member of the California State Assembly, resigned after his sex comments were broadcast. In the video, the married family-values crusader from Yorba Linda talks in graphic detail about women he said he slept with -- at least one of whom appeared to be a lobbyist with business before the utilities committee on which Duvall sat as vice chairman.[1][2] Paul Stanley, Republican former member of the Tennessee Sen., resigned from the state Senate effective Aug. 10, after his affair with a 22-year-old intern and a subsequent extortion attempt was revealed to the public. [3][4] Mark Sanford, governor of South Carolina, disappears during Father's Day weekend, returning to confess an extramarital affair in Argentina.[5][6][7] John Ensign, Senator from Nevada, refuses to resign after confessing to an extramarital affair with a married staffer, claiming she was trying to extort him. Later, it was learned he was attempting to pay her and her husband off through his parents and finding them jobs.[9] Alan David Berlin in all his glory Alan David Berlin*, He is an aide for Senator Jane Orie of Pennsylvania. He is also a furry who contacted a fifteen year old boy over the internet, and offered to "yiff" the boy in a panda outfit, while his parents weren't home. The parents discovered the graphic emails on the boy's computer and called the attorney general's child predator unit sometime in May. Police raided his home and discovered various furry outfits such as a wolf costume, as well as a cat outfit; all complete with two holes cut out at the undersides of the costumes. He is now arraigned in Dauphin County jail on a $250,000 bail. [12][13] Possibly Chip Pickering and a number of others. [14] Michael Duvall, California state Representative in September 2009: "Graphic sex-bragging caught on tape".[15] Then lies and denies it and blames media [16]. Finally apologizes and resigns[17]. 2008 Bruce Barclay, former Cumberland County commissioner, videotaped hundreds of sexual encounters — many with male escorts — using cameras hidden throughout his Monroe Township home.[18] Matthew Joseph Elliott, former aide to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, was convicted of sexual exploitation of a child.[19] Vito Fossella, the only Republican member of Congress from New York City, admitted to police to having a child out-of-wedlock when stopped for drunk driving.[20] Robert McKee, Republican delegate from Western Maryland, announced his resignation after authorities seized two computers, videotapes and printed materials from his Hagerstown home in a child pornography investigation. McKee also resigned his position as executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Washington County.[21] Daniel Dean Thompson, 31, a Utah retailer of "family-friendly" tapes and DVDs (Hollywood films with the "dirty parts" removed), arrested and booked into the Utah County jail on charges of sexual abuse and unlawful sexual activity with a 14-year-old.[22] Derek Walker, former Eagle Scout and candidate seeking the GOP nomination in a race for north-central Pennsylvania district, was charged with felony burglary and criminal trespass stemming from an encounter last year with an ex-girlfriend, during which he allegedly broke into her home and used his cell phone to videotape her engaged in an intimate moment with another man.[23] 2007 Robert "Bob" Allen, Florida state Rep. arrested in the afternoon at a Veteran's Memorial Park for solicitation of prostitution from an undercover male officer inside a restroom. According to the papers, Bob "offer[ed] to perform oral sex for $20". Bob later claimed that his offer had something to do with his being afraid of black people.[24] John David Roy Atchison, Republican prosecutor, was arrested for soliciting sex from a 5-year old girl, then killed himself three weeks later. At the time of his arrest, Atchison was an "assistant U.S. attorney" appointed by President Bush's attorney general.[25] E. Ozwald Balfour, chairman of the Utah Republican Black Assembly and elected to the Republican State Central Committee in 2007, even though he was awaiting trial on four felony counts of forcible sex abuse dating back to his arrest in February, 2005.[26] John Bryan, Republican city councilman, killed himself after police began investigating allegations that he had molested three girls, including two of his adopted daughters, ages 12 and 15.[27] Larry Craig, Republican Senator for Idaho, was arrested on July 11, 2007, by plainclothes police officer investigating complaints of lewd behavior in a Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport airport men's room. On August 8 in Hennepin County Municipal Court in Bloomington, Minnesota, Craig entered a guilty plea and paid a $500 fine.[28]. On September 1st, Craig subsequently announced his retirement from the Senate[29]. Five days later, Craig changed his mind, renounced his retirement and began a battle to have his guilty plea overturned.[30] Craig supported the Federal Marriage Amendment, which barred extension of rights to same-sex couples; he voted for cloture on the amendment in both 2004 and 2006, and was a cosponsor in 2008. However, in late 2006 he appeared to endorse the right of individual states to create same-sex civil unions, but said he would vote "yes" on an Idaho constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages when pressured to clarify his position by the anti-gay rights advocacy group Families for a Better Idaho. Craig voted against cloture in 2002, which would have extended the federal definition of hate crimes to cover sexual orientation.[31] John R. Curtin, Monroe County state Republican committeeman, was convicted of molesting an underage teenage boy and sentenced to serve six to 18 months in prison.[32] Richard Curtis, Washington State Rep., resigned from the House after reports of his sexual encounter with a male escort became public.[33] Curtis has an anti-gay rights voting record. He voted against domestic partnerships for gays and opposed a bill prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.[34] Donald Fleischman, Brown County, WI, Republican Party Chairman, resigned his post after he was charged with two counts of child enticement, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child and a single charge of exposing himself to a child.[35] Larry Dale Floyd, Republican Constable in Denton County, Texas Precinct Two. Arrested for allegedly crossing state lines to have sex with an 8-year old child and was charged with 7 related offenses. Age 62 at time of arrest.[36] Ted Klaudt, former South Dakota State Rep., found guilty of four counts of second-degree rape of two teenage foster daughters.[37][38] Ronald C. Kline, Republican Judge in Orange County, CA, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on his home computer after six years of legal wrangling. In 2002, charged with child molestation and under house arrest on federal charges of possessing child pornography, political analysts still gave him a 50-50 chance of winning the March 5 primary for the Orange County Superior Court seat. He lost the election to a write-in candidate. Joseph M. McDade, 75, was issued a summons on a charge of exposure of sexual organs, a misdemeanor that carries up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. The longtime Pennsylvania Republican congressman who served for 36 years in the House and now works for a Washington lobbying firm, has been accused of exposing his private parts to two women at a beach resort on Sanibel Island. [39] Patrick Lee McGuire, former former Flagler County Commissioner, surrendered to police after allegedly molesting girls between the ages of 8 and 13.[40] Jon Matthews, Republican talk show host in Houston, was indicted for indecency with a child, including exposing his genitals to a girl under the age of 17.[41] Joseph Monteleone Jr., Elyria city councilman, was found guilty of fondling underage girls and asking them to have sex with him.[42] Glenn Murphy Jr., chairman of the Clark County Republican Party and president of the Young Republican National Federation, resigned both posts, after the Clark County Sheriff’s Department began investigating Murphy for alleged criminal deviate conduct. A 22-year-old man claimed that Murphy performed an unwanted sex act on him while the man slept in a relative’s Jeffersonville home. During the investigation, a similar accusation from 1998 came to light.[43] Armando Tebano, Schenectady County Republican Chairman, pleaded guilty to fondling a 14-year-old girl.[44] David Vitter, junior Senator from Louisiana, became one of the few high-profile politicians to be implicated as a client of "D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey.[45] *Sen. Jane Orie's office is now being investigated for using her office workers to campaign for her sister who was running for the state supreme court while working in the office on taxpayer's time and money, a violation of campaign rules.