I pride myself on being able to see things from another person's point of view. Understanding Republicans or Libertarians, or WTO protesters, or Jehovah Witnesses, or other countries, or people who resort to violence, at one point I even tried to understand Limbaugh's perspective...

I feel that most people are rational. If people are honest with you, you can usually understand their perspective when you look at their life experience and values. And you can have a rational discussion.

Right now I don't understand the Republicans, and it's kind of bothering me.

Last week, they actually called for a spending freeze. They wanted the federal government to call some kind of time-out and not spend any money until October.

Honestly, if we followed that idea it would be an instant death blow to our economy. All the employees that would be laid off from state local and federal jobs? Probably around a million, at least. All the construction projects around the country that would come to a halt. Government programs like medicare that would dry up and leave us without a safety net. It really would be like the Great Depression all over again. No safety net, no jobs, no money, tent cities, food riots, the whole miserable package.

And this wasn't some talking point floating around on cable news, they introduced a Bill in the House of Representatives and voted on the crazy thing. AND every Republican voted FOR it, along with 8 Democrats in the house. I'm serious.

Can you find a single economist who thinks that is a good idea? Even at the Heritage Foundation or PNAC? It's completely Insane.

Some Republicans do not agree with this kind of... policy?

David Brooks calls it "Insane" David Frum, says the party should fight for independent voters minorities and women, instead of worrying about Rush Limbaugh and his audience of True Believers.

These Republicans make more sense to me, I can follow their train of thought, even if I don't agree. They are not liberal, they're definitely 'invisible hand of the market' types, but I just think they're critical thinkers, they're logical, so I can understand them.

Sometimes You gotta Change Your Mind

You have to govern based on the facts you have available, and the situation that's in front of you. I think some Party Loyalists are just married to their talking points, they've worked so hard over the years to burn their slogans into our brains. "Big government = Bad" "Tax Cuts = Good" "Big Business = Efficient" "Government = Wasteful"

Those slogans are Old, they originated based on circumstances that no longer exist. You Must adjust to the facts, and address the current situations.

You know Teddy Roosevelt was a Republican. If he ran today, he'd have Grover Norquist and Karl Rove chasing him out of the country and calling him an anti-American Socialist, who would bring an end to America as we know it.

That reminds me, knock it off with the Socialism please. We were not socialist under Clinton, and we are not a 4.6% tax increase away from becoming Cuba. Ditch the slogans and talking points, get your heads out of the box, and look at the information that's in front of you.

Maybe...

Maybe Nationalizing the Banks is smarter than letting them fail and cheaper than pumping out a few trillion to resurrect them.

Maybe GM wouldn't need a bailout, and neither would anyone else if we abandoned the Employer Based Healthcare system that is bankrupting our companies.

Maybe "Free Trade" never really benefited America, and we should try manufacturing things in our own country again.

Maybe lowering taxes on the rich doesn't create the most jobs. And maybe some government programs are actually useful and should be expanded.

Maybe, just maybe, sometimes you have to try something else. because the facts and the circumstances have changed.

"Ronald Reagan was a great leader and a great president because he addressed the problems of his time. But we have very different problems-and we need very different answers...." We need real solutions.

Hey everyone, my mind has been racing about so many things, I haven't been writing because there's just too much stuff, it would take hours. Business has been picking up for me, that's good, but it means I've been short on hours lately.



Here's some new links:
Physicians for a National Healthcare Plan .
Businesses are getting behind it too.
National Coalition on Healthcare
New America Foundation
Center For American Progress

Healthcare....

This is so important to me. I'm tired of superficial debate on this life and death problem.

This is a big issue, I don't know where to begin.

Health Insurance Companies are the problem. It's just a sick and twisted way to make money.

What do Health Insurance companies do? They take your money, and they repay you by trying as hard as possible to deny you treatment. Even if you have Health Insurance they're not going to cover everything you need. Got examples anyone? I think we all do.

They NEVER SEE THE PATIENT. but they know what you need? Sure. all they care about is profit, I doubt they care if you die, except that it cuts off the money you payed them when you were living.

What a waste of money. We spend more per person than any other nation on earth, and we have little to show for it. You know why? because it goes to pay assholes with telephones an computers who try as hard as they can to make excuses for refusing to pay for treatment. I like statistics, One third of our healthcare costs goes to this waste

The most amazing argument I hear against universal healthcare is that "patients don't want a government bureaucrat standing between them and their doctor telling them what to do" oh yea? how bout a for profit insurance company bureaucrat in the private sector who's trying to milk you for every dime? We have hardly any choice about our private insurance anymore, it's more like gambling than trying to find a good product. I'd prefer the government, if only for the fact that I get to elect those assholes, and there's a chance they will actually care what I want. Freedom of choice is a joke. A simpler system would save us all a lot of money overall, and give us more choice about the things that matter.

What choices do you want as a patient? Probably all you want, is to choose your doctor, consent to your own treatments, and get professional medical advice when you need it. Insurance companies do none of these things, they just interfere and make life difficult for both doctors and patients.

Sorry Blue Cross Blue Shield, you serve no good purpose. I want single payer national care.

Does anyone really think that health insurance middlemen make our system better? They don't keep costs down, they push them up by their very existence.

I think doctors and scientists are some of the hardest working, most motivated people you will ever meet, and they are the ones closest to the patients, that care honestly about your well being. Is there a doctor out there that thinks health insurance companies are useful? I really doubt it.

I want some kind of "socialized" medicine, I don't know what people are afraid of. We need a simpler more efficient system like Single Payer National Healthcare. It's really in our self interest as individuals and as a nation.

The employer based system is dead. The reason is simple, it's because our companies are no longer the most powerful and profitable in the world. The system started around the time of unions and WWII. Companies realized it would be cheaper to give health benefits than to increase wages so workers could pay healthcare costs themselves. So we pawned off the cost on them for decades. Now, money is tight for most businesses, and international companies are competitive with US companies, the employer based system will not work, get rid of it.


The cost of providing benefits is killing our companies (GM?). The best thing we could do for our economy is take this burden off their backs, the government could provide it far cheaper than our current patchwork system ever could. It's a simple equation, if you insure the biggest pool of people you save money because the risk and the cost are distributed widely. Plus all the paperwork you save by having a sensible system, without all the middlemen trying to make a profit.

Some things the government just does better. Healthcare is one of them. Because they could simply cover everyone.


If you are reading this,
then I know you care, Call your congress people and state reps. You can find out who they are and get their contact info by looking under my 'FavLinks' on the right.

Physicians for a National Health System
Check them out for great info.

PS is any of this controversial? besides the profanity, it seems like common sense. I don't understand how politicians could oppose such a thing.

Marshawn Lynch got caught in California with some marijuana blunts in the car. And he's one of the Buffalo Bills best players. Michael Phelps can smoke the weed and win 14 gold medals at the Olympics. They're both outstanding athletes. I bet they'll be homeless losers, in rehab, with lung cancer any day now.

Here's the news story



I'm curious to hear your opinions on this. Do you care?


I actually don't think our drug policies are very effective. I don't think the threat of prison will reduce the demand for drugs much. Especially for those under 21 who usually find it easier to get pot than alcohol. I think Treatment and honesty are a better route.

Interesting fact, we have reduced the demand for cigarettes significantly over the years without ever making them illegal.

I also find it interesting that California jails are at double capacity, how many are non-violent drug offenders? Wouldn't it be more cost effective to fund some treatment programs instead?

And what about the Drug War, how much money are we spending on that? And what has it caused? I know there is more violence in Mexico now.

I also think that the black market for drugs is one of the main reasons for violence on our streets. If somebody steals $1000 in drugs from you, you can't call the cops, you have to go vigilante style and take it into your own hands.

I also think the Only reason pot can be called a 'gateway drug' is because you get it from a drug dealer, they probably have other illegal products too. But if you got it from a gas station or a head shop you wouldn't have any access to the harder drugs.

Some people make their money with casinos, or strip clubs, or selling cigarettes, or porn, I'd be embarrassed if that was my profession, but what's so different about a store that sells weed?

I wonder if we'll have to rethink our policies because of the budget problems.

It's obvious at this point, the Republican Party is in permanent campaign mode, still. Their primary concern is regaining power and making the Democrats look bad. They are most concerned about elections, about their own political future, not about doing what they honestly think is best for the country.

Case in Point, Arlen Specter, Republican Senator who listened to his conscience and actually voted for the bill. Arlen believes that some of his Republican colleges are glad the bill passed "without their fingerprints on it". From an interview after the vote, "My Republican colleague said, 'Arlen, I'm proud of you.' I said, 'Are you going to vote with me?' And he said, 'No, I might have a primary....'" (translation, he might offend the Limbaugh's of the world, and they'll try to smear him in the Primary election) you can listen to the actual audio there too. (Another Example: Dancing about obstruction. ) there's plenty of examples.


I think we can take it as a fact, the top concern of at least SOME Republicans is reelection, and their internal calculations told them voting against the bill would work out better for them. (others may just have nonsensical thought patterns :) which allowed them to believe their convoluted arguments against it, like spending doesn't stimulate the economy, and the New Deal didn't work. Sorry, but you have to wonder) anyway

If your top concern is reelection, or the survival of your party... Governing, and serving your constituents, becomes your second priority, along with everything else.

How can Obama beat the math and bring the change to Washington that he promised?

First you get the public on your side, then the politicians follow. Work from the bottom up, outside of Washington. If Congress is worried about reelection, go straight to the people who elect them.

I think Obama's press conference, and his town hall meetings were very effective. And the underlying reason is that he looks like he is fighting for the public, meanwhile congress looked like it was fighting amongst itself.

The reason for Obama's 70%-80% approval rating is his working class hero image, and his promise to bring the public into the government.

Obama left Washington, and met with people at his town hall events. He heard our concerns, and he basically promised solutions. Manwhile back in Washington, the Democrats followed his lead, to make sure those promises were kept.

I watched Obama on TV, and I called my Congressman. I wanted more School funding and state aid, but with a pre-condition of strict oversight, because I know state governments are corrupt too. I wanted the housing tax credit provision eliminated, or focused on less expensive homes so it would be useful to my neighbors who don't make $150,000 per year, and whose homes sell for $70,000. Not sure if my voice mad it to negations (Higgins was there) but my concerns were addressed.

The point is, People hear Obama speak, and they agree, then they call their congressman. That's how you get the job done. Bring the heat from the street.

The Irony, Obama is kind of a Washington outsider with a bold list of changes. As president, he is the leader in Washington. But Washington has stubborn traditions, that don't die easily. He seems to do well when he's fighting from the outside.

Symptom: Ideological Blockage
Solution: Leave Washington

For Janelle :) Some of the woodwork in the house is painted. And there's paneling in the side hallway. the bathroom door frame and window are both painted too.

You can see they actually removed the frames in the kitchen, but luckily we have the original wood in the garage, or the attic. Most of the original stuff is still in the house somewhere. even the old bathtub :)


the walls are probably pretty bad under the paneling, the walls of the stairway are a little cracked in general. We are almost ready to paint the hallway to upstairs, and it took a some work getting the walls ready.


For james, more built in stuff, but not attached. I think this stuff was in the kitchen, cause I can't find any marks on the floors in the other rooms. But it doesn't fit anywhere in the kitchen now, I don't know where it was, the cupboards were all redone in the 80's or something.








That's the main project, it's going in the dining-room I think.


2 other pieces. the big one fits on top of the hutch I'm stripping, but it won't fit up the stairs. It's got to go outside through the trap door I think. After the snow melts :)




Detail of the door, this is one of my favorite things. The glass in the middle is the one I fixed.


I like the inlay in the floors too. It's throughout the downstairs. and 2 rooms upstairs.

It's starting to sink in, that we own a house. crazy.


peace

OK, finally some new pictures from AFTER we moved in. It's been a while I know. I have a bunch of stuff but they're mostly snapshots. Here's a few random views.







The livingroom. We got the vent-free gas logs for the fireplace. It's totally awesome. And efficient too. Not sure how much gas we saved, but it uses about a quarter of what the furnace does.










Kitchen stuff





Fixing the cut glass in the door. I love the front door, the glass was intact but a little wobbly, my father in law had the tools, but I ended up having the patience to solder it together.











One day i got the energy to go ahead and build a skateboard ramp in my basement. I had all the materials lying around. To my surprise I didn't forget my tricks, but I do seem to bruise a little easier.


They do this all the time. So cute.









a few more


The Foyer. Big pocket door on the left. I like the style of my house. The doors, it's kind of arts and crafts, Roycroft style.


Upstairs


This is a snapshot but it shows the front door, and the two kitties on the mat guarding the place.

The economic recovery bill.

critics are claiming that the bill won't effect the economy for two years. Because government projects take a while to start. The state and local governments have to request proposals, and approve things before they get the project started.

OK we live in Buffalo, things tend to drag on for a while. But many of the projects in Buffalo are just waiting for money, and now that the state has budget problems, even more of those projects have been thrown into limbo. I can think of street projects in South Buffalo, the inner harbor project, and the Rath building just off the top of my head. These projects have already been approved and, the contractors have been approved too. We have projects here that are immediate. Plus even if it takes 6 months to approve a contractor for the other 100 plans in Buffalo, once the contractor gets that project, they can count on that money. Since they have money on the way, they can spend what they have in the bank on some new equipment, or they'll be more likely to get a loan based on their projected income. And Buffalo is just one city, there are thousands like us in the US that have been neglected for years. We've got the projects, $billions of them.

and as for the price tag, if the banks get $700 billion, so should the middle class.


The CEO Pay cap at $500,000

Critics call this government intervention in private business. I call it terms of the loan. The point is this, if these companies went to a private bank for a loan, they wouldn't get it. If they did get a loan it would have strict rules, and an extremely high interest rate. These companies thought that since the loan was coming from the government it was easy money, free money, why not apply for it (that was M&T's take on it). But the government decided not to be their bitch, they decided to look out for the taxpayer and not reward failure.

$500,000 salary cap, big deal, we're loaning you the money and those are our terms. Take it or leave it. So today Goldman Saks decides maybe they don't want the loan after all. GOOD, saves us money. That's the point, this is an exceptionally good loan for those who have no credit, it's a service of the government, because no private business is going to do it. But there are conditions, it's not free money, and if you don't NEED it, don't take it. Why should we give money to banks that don't need it.

I'm pissed off at the Republicans. I hope the party goes extinct. Really. because I don't believe they have the best interests of the country at heart.

I hope that isn't true, for America's sake, I hope they actually are patriots, and I'm trying to understand why they act this way.

Why are they so divisive, why are they so misleading, why do they refuse to compromise?

In case you missed it, no Republicans in the house of Representatives voted for the economic recovery package. What's up with the herd of opposition?

If you are working on some legislation, you propose an idea or you advocate for some changes, and when those changes make it into the final bill you usually vote for it. The democrats took out a bunch of 'liberal' provisions and 'wasteful spending'. The Democrats compromised, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of the public trusts the ideas of Democrats when it comes to the economy.

The republicans got a lot of what they wanted, much more than they ever gave the Democrats. But not a single house republican voted for the economic recovery bill. You'll see the republicans all over the media criticizing the bill, and offering no suggestions for improving it, except tax cuts or reducing the price tag (both of which would make the bill less effective).

Why?

I have a few ideas.

Maybe it's the permanent campaign mentality. Your team must win, and the other team must lose. Therefore the other team can absolutely never have a good idea, unless they agree with you of course. And when they agree with you, you get to say I told you so and call them weak.

Maybe it's their conservative market philosophy of self-interest spilling over into everyday life. The 'invisible hand' of the market, where if everyone follows their own rational self-interest, we magically end up with the best collective solution too. So they are all looking out for their own self interest first and foremost. Which I guess means winning elections, hoarding power, making lots of money, and get lots of campaign contributions and political favors.

Maybe redistricting and gerrymandering plays a role too. House members represent little pieces of a state, so they put the democrats on democratic pieces and the republicans on republican pieces. So the voters in their district largely prefer to keep the same party every year. Their seats are in safe Republican territory, they don't have to fear running against a Democrat (there usually is none, the incumbent is unopposed anyway) So the only thing they have to worry about is another Republican challenging them in the primary. And they only way that could happen is if the incumbent pisses of his donors, and they fund the opposition instead.

hmmm, following the logic in that last one, I guess it's about the money?


well none of those are patriotic reasons, but they seem the most logical to me. I mean, we've tried tax cuts for 8 years, did George "the king of tax cuts" Bush miss that one essential tax cut that will fix all our problems?


Maybe the Senate won't be so confrontational. They each represent an entire state, which is more politically diverse than a house district. and they also have more time between elections. Maybe they'll act more like statesmen, then their brothers in the House who look like prep school punks.

I doubt the Senate would filibuster, this is a popular bill, and they can't afford to slow it down. Especially after Obama has shown them so much compromise and respect (especially compared to the last 20 years).

Let them vote against it, and watch in horror when it passes and actually puts people back to work. Then all the campaign commercials in 2010 will ominously say "he voted against Obama's recovery package. Wrong on the economy, wrong for America"

I'm interested to see how this 'economic recovery package' works out.

There's a lot going on. I just hope our representatives put the country first, and get down to business. Are you loyal to your political party, your ideology? Or are you a patriot, who cares most about the well being of our citizens.

I hope we have enough patriots in Washington to get us out of this hole.

I'm sick of the he said she said crap that passes for political discourse. I'm sick of the perpetual campaign, where you're always trying to make 'my colleagues on the other side of the aisle' look evil. I'm sick of power struggles, political favors, and games. I'm sick of hidden agendas.

I don't care what party you're in, you were elected to represent the will of the people. We elected You, because we trust you to look out for us, NOT to look out for yourselves.

I don't want to be too hard on the Republicans, I'd really hate to be in their shoes. And I'm sure the Democrats aren't going to be easy on them. When the Republicans had power, they used that power to exclude and marginalize the Democrats. Payback has got to be appealing..

It's not going to be easy to put this bitch back together.

I gotta say though, this past weekend was a stunt. All the Republicans doing a full court press, all over TV, to tear down the stimulus package. Every one of them saying they'd vote against it. This was a game. A decision by the Republican party to begin the 2010 campaign now. Start attacking Obama, and drawing lines in the sand. I really don't think the country has patience for that shit.

Some fanatics out there must believe that the Democrats are evil, or something, because they'd rather see Obama fail. They'd rather see the next 2 years land us in a Great Depression so they can point fingers and say "see, I told you so, the democrat party was in power, and look what happened. You fools better elect some Republicans to fix their mess." Boy that would be great for the Republican party, the more Obama fails, and the more the country and the economy are destroyed, the better their chances in 2010, or 2012.

But I hope those are only the fanatics. Because the people in Washington have more important things to do than watch the country burn.

Every person I've talked to since the election says, "I hope Obama gets something done quick, we got some serious problems in this country, I hope he can deliver." It's not just democrats, everyone has a family member who isn't making both ends meet. Laid off, part time, pay cut, can't find work, turning off the cable and internet, getting rid of a cell phone or a car. Americans are not as divided as we were, we all have the same problems. I think we're also optimistic that we can solve those problems. We're a proud nation, we have faith in ourselves.

You know what the public wants, Fix it, get 'er done. Get to work, putting us back to work.

I feel unified.

This must be the most gracious and humble president we've ever had.

There is something about public ritual that inspires a certain awe. It seems an appropriate way to take pride in our country and our democracy. I've been in big cowds, It's a unifying thing, and to think of how many people are watching the same thing around the world. It's like half of humanity just took part in this moment, at the exact same time. And it's a time when we need to be unified, and determined to meet the challenges facing humanity.

It's nice to feel hopeful about the future. Maybe the world will feel like working together a little more. Feels like we all have a responsibility to help.

Barack Obama, the people's president.