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TAUNTON, Mass. (AP) - An 8-year-old boy was sent home from school and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation after he was asked to make a Christmas drawing and came up with what appeared to be a stick figure of Jesus on a cross, the child's father said Tuesday. Chester Johnson told WBZ-TV that his son made the drawing on Dec. 2 after his second-grade teacher asked children to sketch something that reminded them of the holiday. Johnson said the teacher became upset when his son said he drew himself on the cross. Johnson, who is black, told WBZ he...

Taking Metra usually affords me a solid 20 minutes to read on my Kindle during my commute home and I relish that pause from responsibility to research many of the topics on which I write. Tonight’s train ride, however, provided an unanticipated diversion during which I mused on a variety of scenarios that left me pondering. What percentage of the population would place such scenarios under the category of an encroachment on one’s individual rights in the guise of the public interest or visa-versa? The catalyst for the redirection of my concentration was correlated to one particular passenger who seriously...

For most of this country, this recession been a tough one. Chances are If you haven't lost a job you know someone who has. The real unemployment number (including people who are no longer getting unemployment dollars or have given up looking) is over 17%. Many many who have kept their jobs, have lost income either through pay cuts or unpaid furloughs. There is one group of people who have had nothing but good news. People working for the federal government have seen their salaries skyrocket. Not surprisingly, the number of people working for the federal bureaucracy has grown as...

It may not satisfy liberals seeking a 'public option,' but the proposal to include Americans as young as 55 in the federal program seems to have increased support for the Senate bill. Reporting from Washington and Chicago - The new proposal for breaking the healthcare impasse in the Senate -- based on a large expansion of the Medicare program -- raised hopes Wednesday among Democrats that the way may be clearing to pass their massive bill by Christmas. The deal, which emerged late Tuesday night after days of negotiations among a group of 10 Democratic senators, dropped the idea of...

WASHINGTON (AP) - They may still call it a "public plan," but private insurers—not the government—would offer coverage under a compromise Democrats are considering to win Senate passage of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. The latest idea bears little resemblance to the original vision outlined by liberals, and embraced by Obama, during the 2008 presidential campaign. That called for the government to sell insurance to workers and their families in competition with industry giants like UnitedHealthcare.

Seventy-one percent (71%) of voters nationwide say they’re at least somewhat angry about the current policies of the federal government. That figure includes 46% who are Very Angry. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 27% are not angry about the government's policies, including 10% who are Not at All Angry........ The data suggests that the level of anger is growing. The 71% who are angry at federal government policies today is up five percentage points since September. Even more stunning, the 46% who are Very Angry is up 10 percentage points from September.

(IsraelNN.com) Defense Minister Ehud Barak signed permits Thursday for 28 educational institutions and public buildings. The educational structures are intended for the school year which begins in September (2010/2011, or 5771 by the Hebrew calendar). Barak said: “We are all obligated to carry out an open dialogue with the settler leaders, and to listen to them. This is a very serious and responsible group that exhibited a large degree of self-restraint in various tests in the past.”

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, speaking in that trademark sonorous baritone, utters a simple statement that translates into real trouble for Democratic leaders: "I'm going to be stubborn on this." Stubborn, he means, in opposing any health-care overhaul that includes a "public option," or government-run health-insurance plan, as the current bill does. His opposition is strong enough that Mr. Lieberman says he won't vote to let a bill come to a final vote if a public option is included. Probe for a catch or caveat in that opposition, and none is visible. Can he support a public option if states could opt...

The Obama Record After 10 Months10.2%........Unemployment Rate & Rising (Up 42% from Inauguration Day)17.5%........Total Underemployment + Unemployment Rate (Worst in 27 Years) $787...........Billion “Stimulus” (95% Pork Barrel Spending, Waste & Corruption) $700+.........Billion TARP Bank Bailout (Crony Capitalism)$1.6+..........Trillion 2009 Budget Deficit (6,000+ Political Earmarks)$10+...........Trillion in additional deficit spending (Next 10 Years)15%+.........Hike in Individual Federal Income Tax Rates in 2010 (Bush Cuts Rescinded) HOSTILE...Government Takeover of General Motors & Chrysler (ZERO ROI) HOSTILE...Government Takeover of Sallie Mae (Student Loan Industry) HOSTILE...$2.4 Trillion Government Takeover of Healthcare Industry (Socialism) BOGUS......$3 Trillion Cap & Trade House Scam (Junk Science to Kill Capitalism)40+..............Radical, Anti-American, Far...

School nurses mistakenly gave the swine flu vaccine to two students who didn't sign up for it - including a Brooklyn girl with epilepsy who wound up in the hospital. "I was outraged," Naomi Troy, 26, told the Daily News after her 6-year-old daughter, Nikiyah Torres-Pierre, had a possible allergic reaction to the shot. Officials at Public School 335 in Crown Heights called an ambulance to take Nikiyah to SUNY Downstate Medical Center when she fell ill following the arm jab. "My stomach was hurting, and I was itching," Nikiyah said after she was released from the hospital. The snafu...

House Democrats blocked the public from attending the unveiling ceremony of their health-care bill Thursday morning, allowing only pre-approved visitors whose names appeared on lists to enter the event at the West side of the Capitol. The audience at the crowded press conference included Hill staffers, union workers, health care providers and students, according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who thanked them for attending.

It's the moment nosy Norwegian neighbors have been waiting for — the release of official records showing the annual income and overall wealth of nearly every taxpayer in the Scandinavian country. In a move that would be unthinkable elsewhere, tax authorities in Norway have issued the "skatteliste," or "tax list," for 2008 to the media under a law designed to uphold the country's tradition of transparency. It's Norwegians' way of keeping up with the Johansens — from fishermen on the western fjords and Sami reindeer herders in the north to members of the committee that awarded President Barack Obama the...

Max Baucus: Public option still part of health care reform debate… It’s just less ‘pure’October 19, 2009 by Mary Vanac WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus told reporters Monday afternoon that he isn’t sure the Senate can muster the votes needed to pass health care reform that contains a “pure public option.” “This issue is alive” Baucus told reporters during a teleconference organized by Families USA, a consumer health care advocate. “We’re looking at it to see what makes the most sense,” the Democrat from Montana said in answer to a question about whether a government-backed health...

Senate Finance Committee members have been notified that the committee's health reform bill was filed today. S. 1796 weighs in at 1,502 pages, according to a Senate Republican leadership source. It's still not up yet on the Finance Committee website or Thomas.gov. We'll post a link as soon as we get one.

A video popped up on YouTube Thursday morning that is sure to get attention. It shows a nasty verbal fight between two women on board a Muni bus. After exchanging profanity-laced verbal insults, the fight turned physical. While male passengers stood and watched, women stepped up to break up the fight. One young woman put her body between the two ordering them to stop. The fight moved down the aisle as the two women struggled to claw and kick each other. It was unclear when the fight happened, but the video was uploaded to YouTube on Thursday. The person who...

WASHINGTON -- Despite months of seeming ambivalence about creating a government health insurance plan, the Obama White House has launched an intensifying behind-the-scenes campaign to get divided Senate Democrats to take up some version of the idea in the weeks just ahead. President Barack Obama has long advocated a so-called public option, while at the same time repeatedly expressing openness to other ways to offer consumers a potentially more affordable alternative to health plans sold by private insurers. But now, senior administration officials are holding private meetings almost daily at the Capitol with senior Democratic staff to discuss ways to...

White House discreetly labors to weave coalition on health care WASHINGTON - Despite months of seeming ambivalence about creating a government health insurance plan, the Obama White House has launched an intensifying behind-the-scenes campaign to get divided Senate Democrats to take up some version of the idea in the weeks just ahead. President Barack Obama has long advocated a so-called public option, while at the same time repeatedly expressing openness to other ways to offer consumers a potentially more affordable alternative to health plans sold by private insurers. But now, senior administration officials are holding private meetings almost daily...

Committee chairman Max Baucus, D-Montana, said that while he liked the idea of a public option, he knew a bill that included the provision would be a death sentence for health care reform. But Democratic Sens. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Charles Schumer of New York, who sponsored the public option amendments, both indicated that they don't think the debate about the public option is over. Despite his proposal being voted down, Schumer said Tuesday, "Today the odds went up that there'll be a public option in the bill." There's been a lot of focus on the plan in...

Updated at 4:05 p.m. ET with vote on Schumer amendment. A key Senate panel shot down two amendments on Tuesday afternoon to add a government-run health insurance plan to its health care bill. Getting to the crux of the nation's current health care debate – whether there should be more government involvement in health care -- the Senate Finance Committee spent hours debating the merits of a government plan, or "public option," before voting down two separate proposals.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday easily rejected the inclusion of a government-run "public" insurance option, backed by President Barack Obama, in its sweeping healthcare reform bill. The panel voted 16-8 against a government-run insurance plan in the first of several battles expected in Congress over the issue, one of the most contentious in the raging U.S. debate over healthcare reform.

Senate Committee Votes Against Government-Run Public Option Insurance Plan

Some(1) have tried to ease concerns about President Obama's plan to reform health-care by stating that at this point there isn’t exactly a specific bill to be for or against. Well, as an avid reader of New York Post headlines and Sarah Palin’s Tweets I can assure you that Ralph Wigglesworth has already heard all he needs to know. To be frank, what it is I'm hearing is that even after last week's hugely successful public Tea-bagging of Washington much of the public (this is the same selfish public that's for a public-option...what a coincidence!!) finds the arguments of the...

On a Thursday night Republican Governors Association conference call with conservative activists, moderated by Erick Erickson of RedState, Gov. Tim Pawlenty broached the possibility of “asserting the 10th Amendment” to keep Minnesota from fully participating in a health care plan passed by Congress and signed by President Obama. The 10th Amendment reads:

Breaking News Sen. Finance Chairman Baucus Concedes 'Public Option' Can't Pass the Senate

While the Obama administration and its Democratic allies in Congress press to allow private-sector workers to unionize by signing authorization cards instead of voting by secret ballot, the government's legal-aid program for the poor has declared the so-called "card check" strategy "unreliable" and rejected an effort by some of its own workers to organize that way. The Legal Services Corp., a congressionally chartered, taxpayer-funded entity, even hired a law firm to rebuff the efforts of workers in its oversight offices to gain union representation by the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), forcing the workers to conduct a...

The only way a "public plan" can achieve its stated goals is to pay doctors and hospitals less than what private health plans pay for the same services. Doctors and hospitals in Alaska already lose money on Medicare, and make up for their losses on current government programs by charging everyone with private health care coverage more for the same services. Current proposals for a "public plan" would place unsustainable financial pressure on doctors and hospitals. Some of the proposals suggest paying providers rates close to that which Medicare currently uses to underpay health care providers. Others suggest "negotiated" payments,...

Discussions on Welfare reform often included the proposal of random drug testing for the recipients. That language could also be included in the Health Care Reform Bill for those who accept the public option. Why should a tax payer be forced to pay for people who voluntarily wish to damage themselves and burden society with the costs? This question should be brought in the current discussion. The support from the left would die very quickly if that language were to be adopted. It also may force Pelosi to not include the public option in the bill.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 2, 2009 – More than one in 10 employees of the Ohio Department of Public Safety is a member of the National Guard or reserves. So when citizen-soldiers on staff are called to active duty and asked to trade their civilian attire for a military uniform -- as 155 currently are -- the department also fulfills its obligation to the country -- and then some. As is the case with all law-abiding civilian employers, the Ohio Department of Public Safety, or ODPS, promises to keep servicemembers’ jobs in place until they return. But the Columbus-based ODPS also goes...

Advocates for a "public option" argue that the public option would lower health care costs because the government would force lower prices by being a big player. But, there has been a public option for seniors since 1965, Medicare, and that hasn't lowered costs for itself, or anyone else. The public option won't help control costs, but there are some reforms to be considered that can facilitate a more competitive health marketplace.

Fifty-five percent see the nation heading on the wrong track, up from 48% in April. Opposition against a public healthcare option is also up. Reporting from Washington - Public confidence in President Obama's leadership has declined sharply over the summer, amid intensifying opposition to a healthcare overhaul that threatens to undercut his attempt to change the system, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. * * * Among all Americans surveyed, 49% express confidence that Obama will make the right decisions for the country, down from 60% at the 100-day mark in his presidency. Forty-nine percent say they think...

'Public option' in health plan may be droppedSHERYL GAY STOLBERG Last Modified: Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 5:17 a.m. PHOENIX — The White House, facing increasing skepticism over President Obama’s call for a public insurance plan to compete with the private sector, signaled Sunday that it was willing to compromise and would consider a proposal for a nonprofit health cooperative being developed in the Senate. The “public option,” a new government insurance program akin to Medicare, has been a central component of Mr. Obama’s agenda for overhauling the health care system, but it has also emerged as a flashpoint for...

News fairly unbalanced. We report. You decipher. With multimillion-dollar jury awards in medical malpractice suits driving up the cost of liability insurance for physicians -- and thus the cost of health care to consumers -- President Barack Obama today backed a health care malpractice reform plan that would create a "public option" law firm to sue doctors for "reasonable" damages. "We need to keep these ambulance-chasers honest," Obama said. "These sharks are becoming obscenely wealthy by tugging the heartstrings of compassionate jurors, who then grant ridiculous damage awards for pain and suffering, which makes malpractice insurance rates skyrocket and jacks...

Some of us may have seen James Carville say that Public Option is out. This is just a Democratic strategy that is again a partial truth only to shut us up while they work on getting it through. This fight is far from over. Democratic strategist Howard Dean laid out the Democratic plans this morning on MSNBC to ultimately put in Public Option such that they will have it in the House bill, but not the Senate bill. When they reconcile the two bills for Obama's desk, it will only need 50 votes in the Senate, and they can "forget...

...Americans fighting against government-run health care are out of the woods yet. Conrad insists that the Senate could pass health reform that includes health insurance co-operatives. Co-operatives do have a long and proud tradition in many sectors of the U.S. economy, but details matter. Conrad says these health co-ops will not be “government-run and government-controlled” but instead “membership-run and membership controlled.” But others in Conrad’s caucus have a starkly different co-op goal. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is pushing a vision of co-ops that are: 1) run by the government, preferably the federal government; 2) funded or subsidized by the government;...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's health secretary is suggesting the White House is ready to accept nonprofit insurance cooperatives instead of a government-run public option in a health overhaul plan. A Republican senator says that is worth looking at. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says Obama still believes there should be choice and competition" in the health insurance market — but that a public option is "not the essential element."

Each year, the homeschool movement graduates at least 100,000 students. Due to the fact that both the United States government and homeschool advocates agree that homeschooling has been growing at around 7% per annum for the past decade, it is not surprising that homeschooling is gaining increased attention. Consequently, many people have been asking questions about homeschooling, usually with a focus on either the academic or social abilities of homeschool graduates....Drawing from 15 independent testing services, the Progress Report 2009: Homeschool Academic Achievement and Demographics included 11,739 homeschooled students from all 50 states who took three well-known tests—California Achievement Test,...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7, 2009 – U.S. military officers have “very great prestige,” and their status is climbing, according to a poll released this week. The Harris Poll ranked 23 occupations based on the responses of more than 1,000 adults polled last month. More than half of those polled gave military officers top marks, saying that the position held very great prestige. Military officers tied with teachers for 51 percent. Firefighters, scientists, doctors and nurses topped the list, and accountants, stockbrokers and actors were at the bottom of the list. Military officers garnered a 5 percent increase over last year’s poll...

".....Abortion rights supporters say that would have the effect of denying coverage for abortion to millions of women who now have it through workplace insurance and are expected to join the exchange......."

Boy, and we thought the huge retirement dollars going to public sector workers in California was crazy. But fat, guaranteed retirement checks are just the tip of the iceberg, really, when it comes to sucking money from the taxpayers. Bob Norman at the Broward Palm Beach New Times points out how public sector workers can work for the city and collect a retirement check simultaneously: Recently I did a post about BSO Lt. Col. Ricky Frey making nearly $320,000 off of a popular state retirement scam for government officials that basically allows triple dipping and opulent take-home pay at the...

The poll is running 2-1 in favor of Colin with about 3,000 votes, so your vote can affect the outcome.

This was filed with the following: State of Nevada Office of the Attorney General Southern Nevada Public Integrity Unit Office of Clark County District Attorney Office of the Clark County Managers Office July 27, 2009 page 1-2 Re: Las Vegas Township Constable Robert Gronauer On July 25, 2009 we had Las Vegas Township Constable Robert Gronauer on the Veterans In Politics Talk Show on All Talk Radio. Since the interview we have had several disturbing comments from our listeners. Mr. Gronauer made a statement that he has not had an Audit in over Eight years and he claims his office...

USA Today reports that "The federal government has unfunded obligations of $1.2 trillion to pay for retired health care for retired federal workers ... and Medicare and Social Security obligations pushing the total to more than $5 trillion."

A heavily publicized U.S. Supreme Court reversal of an appeals court ruling by Judge Sonia Sotomayor has at least temporarily diminished public support for President Obama's first Supreme Court nominee.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius defended the government-run program favored by President Obama against arguments that it would ration care. “I don’t think there’s anything about the public option that would ration care. Unfortunately care is being rationed each and everyday right now. Often private insurance companies stand between a patient and a doctor deciding what treatment can be provided,” she said on Fox News Sunday. “We also have a situation where a lot of people are told that hey can’t have insurance because they have a preexisting condition.”

President Obama struggled to explain today whether his health care reform proposals would force normal Americans to make sacrifices that wealthier, more powerful people -- like the president himself -- wouldn't face. The probing questions came from two skeptical neurologists during ABC News' special on health care reform, "Questions for the President: Prescription for America," anchored from the White House by Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson. Dr. Orrin Devinsky, a neurologist and researcher at the New York University Langone Medical Center, said that elites often propose health care solutions that limit options for the general public, secure in the knowledge...

[If this applied to Bush it ought to apply to King nObama] The White House must release its visitor logs and cannot hide behind a shield of privilege, a federal judge ruled Monday. The Bush administration has resisted public disclosure while it fights a lawsuit over alleged political influence by conservative Christian leaders. U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth concluded the information is part of the public record and is subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act as "agency records."

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said this weekend that he opposes a public option plan for consumers in a healthcare reform plan to emerge from the Senate. "I don't favor a public option," Lieberman told Bloomberg News in an interview broadcast this weekend. And I don't favor a public option because I think there's plenty of competition in the private insurance market." Lieberman's decision joins several other centrist Democrats' decision to have publicly refused to back the plan, derided as a "government-run" plan by Republicans. Centrist Democrats like Sens. Mary Landrieu (La.) and Ben Nelson (Neb.) have also been skittish to...

KABUL, June 4, 2009 – Following months of hard work by the people of Jalrez in Afghanistan’s Wardak province, security has improved to such a degree that development money is pouring into the district. Gov. Mohammad Halim Fidai of Afghanistan’s Wardak province, the Jalrez district sub-governor, members of administrative divisions, contractors and numerous district elders gather for a meeting to discuss future development projects in district, June 3, 2009. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Wardak Gov. Mohammad Halim Fidai joined the Jalrez sub-governor, the president of the Jalrez community council, members from all of the...

After debate among parents, teachers, and other community members, the Alameda Unified School District Board of Education voted 3-2 Tuesday, May 26 to adopt safe schools curriculum that addresses sexual orientation and gender identity. The curriculum, which covers kindergarten through fifth grade, includes lesson plans on stereotypes, different kinds of families, name-calling, and being an ally. Sean Cahill and his partner have two children in the district, one fifth grader and one second grader. Cahill said he's been involved with developing the curriculum from the beginning, when he brought to the district's attention that derogatory language was being used in...

Seven months after voters passed Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California, the state supreme court ruled on May 26 that the ban is legal. The decision also maintained that the 18,000 same-sex couples who married before the election are still legally married. The decision is expected to be appealed in federal courts. Same-sex couples can legally marry in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and Maine. The decision to uphold the ban on the gay marriage was disappointing, but not unexpected. Since March 5 when the hearings began, the word had been that the odds were not in our favor....