Quick test of your constitutional knowledge: where does legislation originate according to the United States Constitution?

(Here’s a hint: “Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it.”)

Sure, not all earmarks are created equal, but what is all this fuss about Congresspeople having the authority to direct federal spending?

Why do we want to invest in one person, the President of the United States, either the legal (line item veto scam) or political power to decide which earmarks are and are not worthy?

Personally I can think of only one quicker way to an authoritarian government, and that way is the process the cheney/bush administration was following. Look up the stories: secret legal opinions asserting executive power to do whatever the prez wanted to do either foreign or domestically (such opinions discarded only when it became apparent the Rethuglicans were not going to remain in power).

Giving the President sway over the specifics of the earmarking process conveys a political tool with access to trillions of dollars. If earmarks are going to be abused, I’d just as soon see that abuse spread among competing interests. I don’t want any single person having that kind of economic power in our nation.

On the other hand, it appears to me the vast majority of earmarks do serve a valid public purpose.

Keep the power of legislation where the Constitution and common sense say it belongs … with the Congress.

Thanks to this story from the Huffington Post ….

Thank you Tell us Vision.

A new study in mice sheds light on the insulin resistance that can come from diets loaded with high-fructose corn syrup, a sweetener found in most sodas and many other processed foods.

(Missing Link Between Fructose, Insulin Resistance Found, Science Daily, 03/09/09)

But not to worry corn syrup producers, the same study holds out hope for you …

The report in the March issue of Cell Metabolism also suggests a way to prevent those ill effects.

Isn’t that great? We can spend our hard earned money consuming products that will make us ill thus making it reasonable for us to spend money on a life’s worth of doctor/hospital visits … and then we can spend money on paying for the medicine developed to save us from the ill effects of the product we purchased that sent us to the medical care system for a lifetime of treatment.

Or … we can save our money and purchase wholesome foods … but who the hell am I kidding?

Elsewhere in the corn syrup debate … Is High Fructose Corn Syrup Turning Us Into Mad Hatters?, Huffington Post, 01/27/09. A rather mercurial report and well worth the read.

Elsewhere in the healthy foods debate … responding to a question in January, ’05, then Health and Human Services Secretary and one time Ohio Governor Tommy Thompson was asked by Stephanie Woods of Nightly Business Report “And should there be some limits on the advertising to children, particularly of very sugary cereals like candy for breakfast?” His response? The pertinent part: “In regards to advertising, we have a Constitution that prohibits the limit of speech, and we in this Administration believe very strongly that people should have the opportunity to advertise. And we’re not going to in any way curtail the right to express people’s opinions. But we think we have to do a better job, more aggressively, you know, to tell the other side.” FDA transcript here.

Wouldn’t it be nice to just end corporate “personhood” and tell these creatures of government’s making they are not allowed to mislead the public about their products?

Anyway … don’t worry about eating high fructose corn syrup thus ending up with a life’s worth of medical treatment … because there is some high priced pill coming your way. And besides, the guvmint is going to do a better job of telling “the other side”, right?

The Vermont towns, which have a combined population of roughly 55,000, decided to build their own network after failing to convince local phone and cable companies to extend the reach of their services. They partnered with ValleyNet Inc., a local nonprofit group, which in turn hired Mr. Nulty to manage the project. Mr. Nulty, who has done stints at the World Bank and in venture capital and served as chief economist for the Senate Commerce Committee in the late 1970s, has a track record in municipal telecom, having set up a high-speed network for the city of Burlington that went live in 2006.

(The Broadband Hot Potato, Wall Street Journal, 03/04/09)

Overall it seems to be a good article, but I suspect it’s only because the WSJ believes this to be a failing project … I’ll still place my bets on a successful outcome.

Face it, some of us are going to get the opportunity to be a big thing, and others of us are going to get the opportunity to be a part only of the big thing.

Put another way … are you happy with the concept that you may spend your life being an anonymous one of a multitude of little cogs on a big wheel?

I am … and here’s my short story …

I ran across this story (Thom Hartmann Leaves Air America; with interviews with Thom, AA CEO and more, OpEd News, 03/02/09) regarding a friend and individual I have a tremendous amount of admiration for (Thom Hartmann of course).

The article begins:

Today, Monday, March 2, marks a new stage in Thom Hartmann’s career. Last Friday was the last day he functioned as a talk show host for Air America radio. Starting today, Hartmann’s noon to three EST slot will be filled by David Bender, who’s hosted a show on Air America for the past three years. The biggest change and the most significant part of the change is the fact that almost every one of the 60 plus radio stations which aired Thom’s Air America radio show will continue to air his show.

I feel really, really good. What seems an eon (actually six short years) ago I received a call from Thom asking me to assist him in finding a radio time slot.

Let me state two facts: 1) I have tried commission sales several times in my life, and each time I’ve almost starved to death. 2) Thankfully selling Thom as a radio host was easier than giving away ice water to the French Foreign Legion in the deserts of Libya.

In the end (which happened very quickly) I garnered a lot of interest and ultimately helped him find a time slot by talking about what I knew of Thom and how he was ready to present a non-Republican Party oriented talk show.

(Side show: Thom and I were actually in competition for the same now defunct IE America slot, only we weren’t aware of it at the time … the better man won.)

The rest is history made primarily by Louise and Thom Hartmann with some help from a dedicated group of professionals who knew a great thing when they saw/heard/read it. Along the way IE America (run by the auto unions in Detroit) went under and Thom helped develop the business plan that became Air America while simultaneously building his own 100% independent show from the ground up.

I feel really great about my little somewhat anonymous part in all this. I was one little cog on a huge wheel that has churned out something great … the Thom Hartmann radio program.

Congratulations to you Louise and Thom. You’ve done a magnificent job!

And now us cogs gotta get back to work.

When has Hamas attacked the United States or been caught spying on us?

Answer: Best as I can tell … never.

Next question: When has Israel attacked the United States or been caught spying on us?

Answer: USS Liberty, do a google search for “israeli spies in the us”.

Question: Why is Obama parroting the neo-con foreign policy that says all things Israel are fantastic and the rest of that part of the world is made up of sub-humans?

Answer: Best as I can tell it’s because he believes it too.

Israel is a terrorist nation with nuclear weapons.

I just finished reading yet one more screed laying out how we need a predictable process in our state’s development and environmental permitting structure.

Here’s my problem with that: if applying for a permit is predictable … why do we need a process at all? If you’ve checked all the right boxes, some bureaucrat should be able to check next to “Approved” .. right?

Of course that’s how the Douglas administration would have it. Even to the point of suggesting we allow for self oversight.

But all the above assumes there is only one side to present, and I know that’s the Douglas’ administration line … after all Business Knows Best … right?

Predictability in permitting processes is simply code for doing away with citizen participation. Formalize the process, decide ahead of time which science is and isn’t good and restrict who can participate … this is what is being discussed.

Predictability in permitting processes is about closing the door on more information and local control.

The Senate Judiciary Committee plans to move forward with a commission to investigate torture during the Bush administration. Committee Chairman Pat Leahy, D-Vt., told Salon Tuesday that his panel would soon announce a hearing to study various commission plans. His staff said the announcement could come as early as Wednesday.

While Michigan Democrat Rep. John Conyers and North Carolina Republican Rep. Walter Jones drafted a bill to create a commission to review abuse of war powers during the Bush administration, Leahy’s Senate commission would represent the first concrete steps toward a broad review of U.S. torture since 9/11.

Spearheading Senate efforts to establish a torture commission is Rhode Island Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse. As a member of both the Judiciary Committee and the Intelligence Committee, Whitehouse is privy to information about interrogations he can’t yet share. Still, regarding a potential torture commission, he told Salon, “I am convinced it is going to happen.” In fact, his fervor on the issue was palpable. When asked if there is a lot the public still does not know about these issues during the Bush administration, his eyes grew large and he nodded slowly. “Stay on this,” he said. “This is going to be big.”

(Senate will advance torture commission, Salon.com, 02/24/09 … registration not required for this story)

and I’m talking single payer, universal medical/health care.

The nation’s largest organization of registered nurses released new data on how the most comprehensive healthcare fix would create new jobs in nearly all areas of the national economy.

Overall, expanding and upgrading Medicare to cover all Americans (single-payer) would create 2.6 million new jobs, infuse $317 billion in new business and public revenues, and inject another $100 billion in wages into the U.S. economy, according to the study by the Institute for Health and Socio-Economic Policy, research arm of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee

(Landmark study argues that Medicare for all would create jobs, stimulate economy, Examiner.com, 02/24/09)

Here’s the study … this way … click here … this is a link

One of Obama’s failures is his view that we need yet another medical/health insurance scheme as opposed to a medical/health delivery plan. As has been said by many folks many times smarter than me … why are we wasting so much money on an insurance industry?

Madoff made off with my stash

My insurance company made an investment so rash

My employer stole

My retirement whole

Lost my job and now I’m outa’ cash!

(thanks to Think Progress blog for the graphic which credits Open Left blog for the idea)

The comparative standings of various things:

Personally I find this a ‘duh’ moment. People are smart enough to realize that if you smoke pot you can go on to win 8 gold medals in the Olympics or become President of the United States among other things; while being one of those radical right wing nutjobs only makes you a loser, liar, oxycontin addict, someone who hates democracy and the United States and all the good things we like to believe we stand for and worse.