Ashburn addressed rumors after his arrest that he had been seen at Faces, a gay night club, and announced that he was gay (big shock) but it “was not and is not something that will affect how [he does his] job.

It never fails. It seems that one after another, all of the most anti-gay leaders out there are coming to realize that it is their own internal conflict and desire to hide the truth that leads them to deny the most basic rights to their fellow humans.

Disgusting, really. Hate yourself if you must. Don’t project that hatred onto innocent people who only request that we grant them the same respect and rights as everyone else.

I mean, it doesn’t make you an Atheist, as you still believe in God. But are you truly Christian if you lack any respect for the Creator?

Thoughts?

This use of reconciliation to jam through this legislation, against the will of the American people, would be unprecedented in scope. And the havoc wrought would threaten our system of checks and balances, corrode the legislative process, degrade our system of government and damage the prospects of bipartisanship

Yet let us not forget that Hatch himself voted in reconciliation votes in 1989, 1995, 1996, twice in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, twice in 2005, and in 2007. He voted yes for all of those votes when Republicans were using reconciliation to break Democrat filibusters.

But Hatch says that is ok because in each of those instances reconciliation was used

but only when the bills in question stuck close to dealing with the budget. In instances in which other substantive legislation was included, the legislation had significant bipartisan support.

That is an outright lie. It isn’t a misspoken statement. It isn’t a difference of opinion. It is a lie, and Hatch knows it.

For instance: reconciliation was used on the Bush tax cuts in 2003. A vote so close that Vice President Dick Cheney had to come in and break the 50-50 tie. You remember, right Hatch? The same tax cuts that trashed the budget and exploded our deficit at the worst possible time – when we were already at war in Afghanistan and just beginning the costly war in Iraq. The tax cuts that gave nothing to middle income Americans and yet threw the bank at the top 2%.

Reconciliation was also used by Republicans in 2005 when the Medicaid laws were changed. The same laws that the majority of Americans were opposed to and that is still today wreaking havoc on our budget and preventing millions of elderly Americans from being able to afford prescription drugs. They only received 52 votes in favor of that bill. No significant bipartisan support.

So, how did this even get published? Yes, it is an op-ed. But is there no fact checking going on at the Washington Post? Hatch outright lied. He did not mislead or misspeak. He lied. And no one at the WP called him out for it.

And we wonder how politicians get away with lying about their record. It is because clearly our media no longer cares. If it is not sensational, they don’t cover it.

The 8.8 earthquake is said to be 100 times more powerful than the Haitian earthquake that struck just over one month ago that left nearly 300,000 people dead in Port-au-Prince. It is unknown at this time if the Chile death toll will rise or if due to their planning for such events, they have prepared for the worst sufficiently.

Chile was struck with a 9.5 earthquake, the largest ever recorded on Earth, just 50 years ago and has since striven to prepare for such a disaster again.

My thoughts and prayers are with them and those affected by any tsunami that may result.

At first, you seemed pretty reasonable. I did not agree with you, but I could follow your arguments and saw how your logic formed. But then…oh, but then. You began discussing how you learned about the evils of progressivism and how taxpayers should not be paying for things that the people need and want. You stated:

“I taught myself. I went to the library. Books are free.”

Glen, no. Just…no.

Libraries are not free. Books are not free. They are city, state, and federally owned and paid for so that every American has free (got that? FREE) access to books. You, yourself used this little bit of socialism growing up. I bet you went to public school too, didn’t you?

See, Glen, these things like schools and libraries, and firemen, and the military – they are expensive. And our government has no way to generate revenue other than to tax. I know you are a little confused because you think that the “progressives” that came into office after WWI were the first to put in place an income tax.

But you would be wrong. That would be Lincoln who put it in place to pay for the Civil War. A Republican. Why don’t you head back down to your local library and pick up another book, ok?

Or, maybe, it is just Joe Wilson and his typical exaggerations and out right lies. He stated “I’ll take you to the poorest county in South Carolina, Allendale, a very nice hospital. I’ll take you to another county which is very depressed.”

Well that is real nice, Joe. We have beautiful hospitals in my county, too. But I don’t have insurance yet so they cost me money to go to. And do you know who pays for that visit when I cannot afford to? Taxpayers. Do you know who paid for that hospital? Pharmas and insurance companies. And taxpayers.

America pays more than any other country – per person – for our healthcare and yet we are ranked 37th in the world for quality of healthcare. Our budget is overrun with healthcare costs and yet 39million LEGAL Americans live without insurance. Not because they don’t want it. Not because they mismanage their money. Because after they pay taxes (to pay for other folks’ health care) and pay their mortgage and their car note and buy food and keep the lights and heat on there is not enough money  to also buy insurance.

I don’t want health care like Canada or England. I want health care like Sweden or Denmark. I want health care that I pay a reasonable amount for that is guaranteed to not be cancelled if I get sick. I want health care that I cannot be denied for because of an old back injury. I want health care that will cover preventative, prescription, women’s, dental, and catastrophic needs.

I want equal rights to health care for everyone – regardless of their ability to pay. I think that if someone cannot truly afford health insurance, then the government should pay for it. But I also think that if you can afford insurance, you should be required to purchase it because I am tired of my taxes paying for irresponsible people too.

I think health insurance should be similar to car insurance. Required. However, having a car is an option. Being alive and healthy should not be. Therefore we must put a safety net in place for those that cannot help themselves.

I will be voting and campaigning for the Congressional elections. I will work to put people in office that understand that every American needs health insurance and that insurance companies need to be put back in their place. I will work to see a Congress that understands that they work for us, not the pharmas. A Congress that recognizes that we will never have a balanced, healthy budget until we rid ourselves of much of our bloated healthcare costs and that the only way to do that is complete and utter reform. Tear it down completely and rebuild all over again.

It is the only way.

Ron Paul.

The crowd booed when this was announced.

So, uh…you voted for him but you still hate him? I mean I don’t like the guys politics because he is a hair shy of being an anarchist and he steps on the rights of women and homosexuals by refusing to protect their rights – but I would never vote for him!

It seems that most of the 2,400 people who voted “wished the Republicans had a better field of candidates to choose from.”

Don’t we all. I mean they have Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, Dick Cheney. I honestly think if I had to pick one I would go with Mitt. No. Scratch that. I would not vote.

At some point, kiddos, you are going to have to straighten up and fly right or we are going to only have one party in this country. And, let’s face it, Democrats cannot get anything done with you – imagine how little they would get done without you hounding them.

That is right folks, little Tripp Palin (son of abstinence only graduate and single teenage mother, Bristol Palin) has federally subsidized health care. Why, you might ask? Is his family poor? No. His mother still lives with her family and the family earns well into the six digits (potentially seven now that Ex-Govvie Palin is now a talking head for Fox). They clearly are not poverty stricken.

No, little Tripp gets the insurance from the Indian Health Services and Alaska Native Medical Center.

Nice.

To be fair, Tripp is an Alaska Native. His grandfather is Alaska Native and therefore he falls within the federal guidelines that allow him to be registered as an Alaska Native and receive federally subsidized health care. At no cost. Well, to him at least. We, the tax payers, get that burden.

So if it is good enough for Tripp, why is it not good enough for all Americans? Or does Palin support discrimination? Is it really ok to say that one ethnic group in America is more worthy of health care than the rest of us? And if it is because of their uniquely poor living standards, why does Tripp qualify? And why don’t the people in the Appalachians qualify? Or why are they not simply a part of the standard state health care programs?

The alleged pilot was Joseph Stack of Austin, Texas. He was a 53 year old American who – in a rant left on the web before taking off – claimed he was “sick” of the IRS, the bailouts, and the government.

Stack is presumed to be dead. At least one employee is missing.

Let me just say this. Stack, regardless of what people will say, is a terrorist. He is a cowardly piece of shit who, rather than face up to his troubles and do something productive to change the world, decided that his best option was through death and destruction. In an attempt to attack “Big Brother,” he potentially killed an innocent life. It is a real shame that he is dead and will not have to face the people whose lives he ruined.

School administrators in the Rhode Island town of Central Falls threated the teachers’ union that if the teachers were not willing to work an extra 25 minutes a day, spend one lunch per week eating with students, spend two weeks in the summer training, and tutor after school on a rotating schedule, they would all be fired.

The union decided not to budge and now Central Falls High School is without any teachers.

Congratulations. You bargained these students’ futures on what essentially amounts to a $500 difference in what the union thought the teachers should be compensated for this extra work and what the school administrators felt they could afford.

This was already a poorly performing school. The teachers were not doing their job as it was and the drop out rate was high for the area. It is a disgrace that the union let this happen. Even worse is that the union is made up of teachers – people that are supposed to dedicate their lives towards the betterment of education.

Pathetic. This is why I no longer support public education in this country. It is a damn disgrace.