tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-141707042009-10-19T20:23:31.772-07:00A little conservative, a little liberal, a lot of pragmatismThe Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.comBlogger183125This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use.tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-5441436138310937302009-10-19T20:03:00.000-07:002009-10-19T20:23:31.783-07:002009-10-19T20:23:31.783-07:00

The Senate Finance Committee published the full legislative text of America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009 (PDF >1.8MB) on their website. Everyone can now stop with all the rhetoric. Now we can all easily reference the exact Section of the Act with which we agree or oppose. So instead of hyperbole, we can instead read the actual terms of the Act and make our own assessment of what effect they

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-40193914721157233222009-10-18T11:37:00.000-07:002009-10-18T11:42:01.547-07:002009-10-18T11:42:01.547-07:00

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words...

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-89169842144612941472009-09-27T16:27:00.000-07:002009-09-27T17:13:38.416-07:002009-09-27T17:13:38.416-07:00

In spite of all the chaos in the GOP, some of the Christian Right have managed to galvanize under a cause: to discredit and criticize America's first African-American President using whatever lies, fallacies, and deceit serve their purpose. Reading these screeds, there's a conspicuous undercurrent of racism and misguided religious condemnation. The latest example of this was an email from one

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-85412758855235722682009-09-07T21:07:00.000-07:002009-09-13T11:20:38.092-07:002009-09-13T11:20:38.092-07:00

President Barack Obama has stirred the ire of the GOP and the Right by declaring his intent to give a speech to American schoolchildren. Less than a week ago, the chairman of Florida's Republican Party, Jim Greer, released a statement about Obama's upcoming speech, saying "I am absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama's socialist ideology." Some parents

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-90423224828690712902009-09-06T14:20:00.000-07:002009-09-06T14:22:08.352-07:002009-09-06T14:22:08.352-07:00

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-60864196483422988782009-08-29T17:34:00.000-07:002009-08-29T17:52:56.677-07:002009-08-29T17:52:56.677-07:00

The Associated Press released a 'news story' in which it claims that a "secret process" benefits pet projects. Yet when you scrutinize the story closer, you'll find that it's not so much 'news' as it is a distortion clearly biased against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (13.4 MB PDF) (the Act).The story claims that "a process that is both secretive and susceptible to political

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-69467002835639972062009-08-29T15:45:00.000-07:002009-08-29T16:12:38.661-07:002009-08-29T16:12:38.661-07:00

Tom Ridge is releasing a book in which the ex-DHS chief links politics to terror alerts. His book is expected to claim that the White House asked him to raise the official threat level just before the 2004 election, purportedly to swing voters to Bush. Ridge will claim in his book that, although he objected to it, he succumbed to the pressure of former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-68156467130119412962009-08-21T22:28:00.000-07:002009-09-06T14:26:12.040-07:002009-09-06T14:26:12.040-07:00

What is this "Death Panel" we've all been hearing about lately? Don't take my word for it. Don't let other people tell you what it says. Read the actual text of America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 for yourself.The Act is 1,018 pages long, so give the 1.7 MB Portable Document format (PDF) file a couple of minutes to download. Then go straight to SEC. 1233. ADVANCE CARE PLANNING

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-58428293583423251272009-08-14T21:53:00.000-07:002009-09-01T19:02:35.088-07:002009-09-01T19:02:35.088-07:00

My friend made a post to his Facebook where he attempted to list every concert he'd been to. He tagged me (and some of his other friends), challenging me to list every one that I had been to. Considering that I've been to hundreds of concerts over the span of more than three decades, there's no possibility that I could list every concert I've been to. So instead I decided to post the dozen

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-11064032258633704232009-08-01T20:50:00.000-07:002009-08-22T17:17:45.697-07:002009-08-22T17:17:45.697-07:00

Where is the change President Obama spoke of in his campaign? It certainly is not in the form of the health care reform bills going through congress right now. I still have hope that the bill that finally gets signed into law is real health care reform but things are moving in the wrong direction right now. The problem is that insurance companies are still at the core of the various bills

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-4425337555278326712009-05-24T15:27:00.000-07:002009-05-24T16:44:38.331-07:002009-05-24T16:44:38.331-07:00

The GOP is sticking to its guns on Guantánamo Bay. The party maintains that the detention facility at the base there, Camp Delta, is better than home for the detainees.Former congressman Duncan L. Hunter (R-CA) has long been an outspoken proponent of holding alleged terrorists at Guantánamo Bay. As far back as 2005, he was claiming that detainees were actually leading better lives at Camp Delta

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-83909285063543669292009-05-09T23:03:00.000-07:002009-05-09T23:12:30.653-07:002009-05-09T23:12:30.653-07:00

What a way to start a weekend! I found the following email with the Subject "FUNDS NO:35460021 UM09" in my Inbox this morning:Payment Reference No.-35460021U.S. Department of TreasuryWest African Foreign Remittance Payment Department.WASHINGTON DC, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.Attention Dear Beneficiary,We the entire members of Top Management of the U.S. Department of Treasury West African Foreign

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-82727858533740614072009-05-03T20:43:00.000-07:002009-05-03T22:28:15.869-07:002009-05-03T22:28:15.869-07:00

It's not easy going through life with a disability. Fortunately, people with disabilities get an occasional privilege. One of them is the use of disabled person parking spaces. It helps make one small aspect of life a little easier.Nonetheless, the privileges need to be respected. When taken for granted, the person doesn't appreciate the privilege. When a person has a sense of entitlement to

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-61289657532628204922009-03-22T17:07:00.000-07:002009-03-22T19:52:33.107-07:002009-03-22T19:52:33.107-07:00

Buying a van adapted for driving from a wheelchair is a costly investment. Depending on the scope of adaptations needed, the price can even run into six-figures. This is obviously not a purchase to take lightly.Nonetheless, it can be a critical investment for a person with a disability. An adapted vehicle can provide that person with independence most people take for granted but that is

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-47525881984184957572009-03-22T12:38:00.000-07:002009-03-22T12:40:57.390-07:002009-03-22T12:40:57.390-07:00

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-22109421413477949882009-03-01T15:00:00.000-08:002009-03-01T15:11:46.708-08:002009-03-01T15:11:46.708-08:00

Ever since President Obama first said he would increase taxes on those earning over $250,000 per year (which was when he was still only a candidate), Republicans have been parroting the claim that doing so would harm American business. They claim that many people who earn over $250,000 per year own small businesses and that to increase their taxes would stifle the growth of their

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-32116832781600681362009-02-28T15:24:00.000-08:002009-02-28T15:56:10.454-08:002009-02-28T15:56:10.454-08:00

The decline in home values is hurting millions of Americans. After all, many had built up a great deal of equity in their homes by the time values had reached their peaks. Now the rates are resetting on many homeowners’ ARMs and the monthly payments are increasing to the point of unaffordability. In the meantime, their equity has evaporated and they are underwater with their mortgages. The

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-70159953086139395202009-02-15T16:14:00.000-08:002009-02-15T19:45:24.565-08:002009-02-15T19:45:24.565-08:00

The GOP believes that tax cuts are the best way to stimulate the economy. Republicans would say that tax cuts are preferable to government spending because the American people know best how to spend their money and that the government has a poor track record for effectively spending tax dollars. But Daniel Gross makes a strong case that the traditional wisdom doesn't apply in this recession.The

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-56581614456374464672009-02-11T22:51:00.000-08:002009-02-11T23:55:29.545-08:002009-02-11T23:55:29.545-08:00

When Secretary Hank Paulson started running around like Chicken Little telling everyone the sky is falling, I thought it was just hyperbole. After all, former president Bush had been employing scare tactics to control the American people for years. So when the Fed came to the rescue with a $700-billion economic rescue plan, I questioned if it really was necessary.Then I saw the video of

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-29519475382984088162009-02-08T13:41:00.000-08:002009-02-08T14:31:08.674-08:002009-02-08T14:31:08.674-08:00

I visited the Franchise Tax Board's website to check on the status of my state income tax return today. Imagine my surprise to see their reply was "your refund cannot be issued at this time." How would they respond if I owed them money but instead of paying, I told them that their payment cannot be issued at this time? They would charge me penalties and interest.The Franchise Tax Board passed

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-76451520638339232142009-01-18T23:06:00.000-08:002009-01-18T23:50:32.534-08:002009-01-18T23:50:32.534-08:00

I've already admitted to using Peter Schiff as my economic forecaster. He forecasted our current recession while many were still saying the fundamentals of our economy were strong. He was on target when his naysayers were calling him a crackpot. So what does he say about the recession this year?Unfortunately, Schiff says there's no pain-free cure for the recession. Regarding economic stimulus

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-61613436457529228252009-01-15T21:17:00.000-08:002009-01-15T21:24:37.226-08:002009-01-15T21:24:37.226-08:00

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-87196151622054660022008-12-28T21:20:00.000-08:002008-12-28T21:47:41.249-08:002008-12-28T21:47:41.249-08:00

The Raw Story has recently been validating my posts from the early months of The Progressive Zone. Back in 2005, I posted about the fascist elements of the USA PATRIOT Act. Section 501 of the Act seems to be contrary to everything this country stands for. It prevents someone accused of terrorist activity from being informed of the evidence against him or her, no matter how flimsy it be. It's

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-41460384592681786532008-12-21T15:57:00.000-08:002008-12-21T19:49:45.216-08:002008-12-21T19:49:45.216-08:00

I've mentioned that I take my cue from Peter Schiff when it comes to forecasting the economy. It turns out that he was not the only one who many years ago forecasted the economic problems we're experiencing now. Martin Weiss also saw the housing bust coming back in 2005.So last week, Esquire magazine asked Weiss what he forecast for the housing market over the next few years. In his response,

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14170704.post-74726000489182269762008-12-19T22:56:00.000-08:002008-12-19T23:24:56.794-08:002008-12-19T23:24:56.794-08:00

Yes, I know I've been blogging about the folly of the bailouts lately. I haven't stopped being a free market economist. But I recently discovered a bailout proposal that actually makes a lot of sense. In a nutshell, the plan is that the US government offers every US citizen a 30-year mortgage at a 1½% fixed rate of interest. How this works and why it makes sense I'll leave up to the author to

The Progressivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09388386207043606897noreply@blogger.com2