Main street robbery halted by the House of Representatives

The bailout plan (H.R. 3997) was voted on in the House today, and it did not pass, 228 representatives (95 Democrats, 133 Republicans) voted nay, refusing to steal out of the American taxpayers pocket to prop up the greed of Wal Street big shots. Sadly, my Representative, John McHugh, was not among those who stood against this bill, I'm questioning why I voted for him, and am uncertain if I can do so again, I will be watching him closely. I am not a one issue voter, but this is a biggie, he's lost my trust today, even as the House overall gave me a ray of hope that maybe there is a smattering of common sense left on Capital Hill.

House vote on HR 3997

May God bless you..with discomfort

From a Franciscan Benediction I happened to stumble across:

"May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain in to joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done. "

I'll let you chew on that for a bit, I know I certainly am...kinda makes you go "wow"

Who is Sarah Palin?

It's the question everyone is still trying to answer, who is this dark horse McCain picked for his VP? I watched her speech at the GOP convention, and my immediate reaction was "Can I vote for her without McCain?" So, I've decided to do some digging about, and found plenty of this and that, some of it reliable, some of it nothing more than small town rumors.

The Basic Facts:

Wasilla, Alaska City Counsil, 1992-96
Mayor of Wasilla, 96-2002
Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commissioner, 2003-06
Governor of Alaska, 06-present

Her Record:

Staunchly Pro-Life

believes “marriage should only be between a man and a woman.”

Lifetime member of the NRA, supports gun safety programs for "Alaska's youth"

"Bridge to Nowhere" initially supported the idea, now against it

more info on where she stands, no reason for me to reinvent the wheel:
ontheissues.org


Controversy:
One of the biggest questions surrounding Palin is the abuse of power investigation. It seems that Palin's sisters ex husband is a moron and, also went through a rather nasty divorce and custody battle with Palin's sister. Now, the scandal here isn't over the stupidity of the trooper in question, seems everyone, including himself, agrees he's a bit of an idiot. No, the scandal here is whether Palin and friends pressured then Public Safety Commissioner Monegan to fire the state trooper in question. Monegan refused, and was canned himself, hence the investigation

Getting Real About Palin


Theres a few others, her 17 year old daughter being pregnant for instance, that I frankly don't understand why they are at all a public issue, sure I guess if you wanted to you could take from it arguments over abortion and sex ed, but only if you're a dirtbag who doesn't mind using a teenager for political hay, so other than that opinionated statement, I'm going to leave the family "scandal" alone, if you want to delve into that one, theres always Google...

Now, since lots have been asking me, what do I think?

I think that, on the surface, I like Palin, she gave an excellent speech at the convention, she comes off as a small town/rural person, hardcore conservative. I like that. But, she supports John McCain, I don't like that. I'm still not voting for McCain, her speech swayed me a little, but I'm still gonna be a good political cynic and vote 3rd party. The abuse of power allegations also give me pause, I've seen enough of that from Bush-Cheney.

She seems all to eager to toss about how she told congress "thanks but no thanks" on the bridge to nowhere, but doesnt mention that she was one of the ones who pushed for it, and then when she realized it wasn't politically feasable, decided to oppose it, but kept the money for other things, boy, thats just stellar, She's looking more and more like a run of the mill GOPper

She has no, repeat no foriegn policy experience at all, but she seems to be parroting McCain's stance on Iraq and Iran, now, I will admit, things are looking alot better in Iraq, but I would argue thats due mostly in part to the Iraqi government finally growing a pair than anything else, and if we would just stop poking Iran with a stick everynow and then...well, the only thing the Iranian people hate more than thier current government is US, so, if we'd just ignore them, they would literally go away, we need to stop meddling in the affairs of other countries, not threaten more countries

The last thing that worries me is her strong stance on abortion and gay marriage. Some of you are scratching your heads and going "wha-?" If she can keep her views out of federal policy, great, but if she decides to champion any sort of federal legislation regarding either, she's in violation of the 10th amendment, and gets added to the list of politicians who think the constitution is just a piece of paper

So, to sum up my thoughts, of the 4 figures on the "main" national stage, I dislike her the least, and if McCain wasn't on the ticket, I might even consider voting for her, with 1 or 2 strong reservations, but there are some questions that need to be answered, and McCain is on the ticket, so, although she made my mind go "hmmm" she hasn't changed it, the Republicans are still not getting my vote this election