In The Mailbox: 12.11.24 (Afternoon Edition)
15 hours ago
“Everyone must participate in the food market… under this logic, Congress could [mandate] that every adult purchase and consume wheat bread daily.”This is something that conservatives have been saying since day one. If the government can do this they can do anything. The reality is it doesn't matter that this bill happens to be about healthcare, because if this is allowed to stand anything can be forced upon the American people through the commerce clause. It is a very dangerous and slippery slope into a totalitarian government. I am not one to buy into conspiracy theories or I rarely buy into overly vitriolic statements that Obama is trying to turn the US into the Soviet Union. But, this bill gives someone who does the perfect opportunity to do so. It is an over-reach and a violations of our individual rights. Does healthcare need reform? No doubt about it. Do we need to do more to help the working class poor to get proper coverage? Yes. This law is not the way to do it unless you are willing to give up your liberties. Sorry, Nanny and Uncle Obammy, I am not. Lets get to work and pass some laws that will actually solve the problems without giving away our freedoms.
Odd and over-reaching.Really, the fact that you passed a law that violates our consitutional rights isn't odd and over-reaching, but the courts calling you out on it is? That is how I define odd.
“It [the Republican successes in the 2010 elections] happened for the same reason the Civil War happened in the United States. It happened because the Southern states, the slaveholding states, didn’t want to see a president who was opposed to slavery.
“In this case, I believe, a lot of people in the United States don’t want to be governed by an African-American, particularly one who is liberal, who wants to spend money and who wants to reach out to include everyone in our society….”
It's whether we sustain the leadership that has made America not just a place on a map, but a light to the worldThis speech seemed almost Reaganesque. Of course it didn't take long to go off the rails. He then decided to go into the "investments" that we need to make. I don't think anyone can deny that investments is just code for more spending. He himself talked about how education starts at home and much depends on the parents paying attention to the homework and being involved. The government cannot do that for a child. One needs to look no further than Washington DC to see that. The District spends close to $30,000 per student and has some of the worst performing public schools in the country. While their has been some improvement over the past few years, not nearly enough for the kids who are stuck in that system. His solution was yet again to throw more money at the problem, and to make it worse he wants it done with a federal program. The system will not change until they are improved at the local level. A part of that will have to be school choice. The democrats constantly talk about fairness, there is nothing fair about forcing a child to stay in an under-performing school that is in some cases more expensive than giving that family a voucher for a better private or charter school. The democrats have been yapping about fixing the public school systems for forty years, and so far all we have seen is our test scores and graduation rates decrease. Isn't a sign of insanity to do the same thing and expect a different result?
Remember - for all the hits we've taken these last few years, for all the naysayers predicting our decline, America still has the largest, most prosperous economy in the world. No workers are more productive than ours. No country has more successful companies, or grants more patents to inventors and entrepreneurs. We are home to the world's best colleges and universities, where more students come to study than any other place on Earth. What's more, we are the first nation to be founded for the sake of an idea - the idea that each of us deserves the chance to shape our own destiny. That is why centuries of pioneers and immigrants have risked everything to come here. It's why our students don't just memorize equations, but answer questions like "What do you think of that idea? What would you change about the world? What do you want to be when you grow up?" The future is ours to win.
"After a thorough review of the House’s composting operations, I have concluded that it is neither cost effective nor energy efficient to continue the program. While I am suspending this program because it is costly and increases energy consumption, I would like to assure the House community that this Committee will continue to evaluate all components of House operations and will work with the appropriate agencies to incorporate environmentally sustainable practices when feasible.”
"Obviously, it is disappointing to see this important component of the program suspended,” said Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Pelosi. “The commercial food composting industry has not fully developed yet, and we would hope that when a closer commercial composting site opens and more competition brings down costs, the program would be reinstituted.”
Mei Xiang and Tian Tian |
The Chinese and American people work together and create new opportunities together every single day. Mr. President, today we’ve shown that our governments can work together as well, for our mutual benefit. And that includes this bit of news -— under a new agreement, our National Zoo will continue to dazzle children and visitors with the beloved giant pandas.
Everybody’s talking about the birthday cards we once made for you, which you rejected because they weren’t good enough. Funny how some people are convinced that Lulu and I are scarred for life. Maybe if I had poured my heart into it, I would have been upset. But let’s face it: The card was feeble, and I was busted. It took me 30 seconds; I didn’t even sharpen the pencil. That’s why, when you rejected it, I didn’t feel you were rejecting me. If I actually tried my best at something, you’d never throw it back in my face.
I remember walking on stage for a piano competition. I was so nervous, and you whispered, “Soso, you worked as hard as you could. It doesn’t matter how you do.”
Everybody seems to think art is spontaneous. But Tiger Mom, you taught me that even creativity takes effort. I guess I was a little different from other kids in grade school, but who says that’s a bad thing? Maybe I was just lucky to have nice friends. They used to put notes in my backpack that said “Good luck at the competition tomorrow! You’ll be great!” They came to my piano recitals — mostly for the dumplings you made afterward — and I started crying when I heard them yelling “bravo!” at Carnegie Hall.
When I got to high school, you realized it was time to let me grow up a little. All the girls started wearing makeup in ninth grade. I walked to CVS to buy some and taught myself how to use it. It wasn’t a big deal. You were surprised when I came down to dinner wearing eyeliner, but you didn’t mind. You let me have that rite of passage.
Another criticism I keep hearing is that you’re somehow promoting tunnel vision, but you and Daddy taught me to pursue knowledge for its own sake. In junior year, I signed myself up for a military-history elective (yes, you let me take lots of classes besides math and physics). One of our assignments was to interview someone who had experienced war. I knew I could get a good grade interviewing my grandparents, whose childhood stories about World War II I’d heard a thousand times. I mentioned it to you, and you said, “Sophia, this is an opportunity to learn something new. You’re taking the easy way out.” You were right, Tiger Mom. In the end, I interviewed a terrifying Israeli paratrooper whose story changed my outlook on life. I owe that experience to you.
There’s one more thing: I think the desire to live a meaningful life is universal. To some people, it’s working toward a goal. To others, it’s enjoying every minute of every day. So what does it really mean to live life to the fullest? Maybe striving to win a Nobel Prize and going skydiving are just two sides of the same coin. To me, it’s not about achievement or self-gratification. It’s about knowing that you’ve pushed yourself, body and mind, to the limits of your own potential. You feel it when you’re sprinting, and when the piano piece you’ve practiced for hours finally comes to life beneath your fingertips. You feel it when you encounter a life-changing idea, and when you do something on your own that you never thought you could. If I died tomorrow, I would die feeling I’ve lived my whole life at 110 percent.
And for that, Tiger Mom, thank you
I go to Republican convention; I go to Democrat [convention] and as a white guy one of the things I notice about the difference – one thing I notice about black people at different conventions [is] you go to the Democrat convention [and] black folk are hanging together, having a good time. They’re smiling and enjoying themselves. They feel very much at home. You go to Republican [convention] – you get the feeling you are all told individually ‘now don’t bunch up; don’t get together, don’t crowd or you’ll scare these people’. Is that true in the Republican Party? Is that still true in your party?What a jerk. While there is no way to deny that the black community tends to vote for the democrats, that doesn't mean that republicans are afraid of them.
Did you fear that if you got together with some other African Americans that white guys might get scared of you?
But those elected officials who took the test scored an average 5 percentage points lower than the national average (49 percent vs. 54 percent), with ordinary citizens outscoring these elected officials on each constitutional question. Examples:Does the left want to rethink the jokes that they are making about Bachmann arranging lectures on the Constitution? Seems to me they are sorely needed.
•Only 49 percent of elected officials could name all three branches of government, compared with 50 percent of the general public.
•Only 46 percent knew that Congress, not the president, has the power to declare war -- 54 percent of the general public knows that.
•Just 15 percent answered correctly that the phrase "wall of separation" appears in Thomas Jefferson's letters -- not in the U.S. Constitution -- compared with 19 percent of the general public.
•And only 57 percent of those who've held elective office know what the Electoral College does, while 66 percent of the public got that answer right. (Of elected officials, 20 percent thought the Electoral College was a school for "training those aspiring for higher political office.")