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WorldNetDaily has a list of Obama's broken promises after just two months in office.
Obama racks up list of broken promises
Just 2 months into term, president abandons numerous commitments
Posted: March 12, 2009
11:30 pm Eastern By Chelsea Schilling
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
After only two months in office, President Obama may have fallen short on a number of his campaign promises.
As a candidate, he promised to allow public comment before signing bills, eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses, provide tax credits to businesses for hiring new employees, allow Americans to withdraw funds from 401(k) and retirement accounts without penalties, ban lobbyists from serving in his administration, reform earmarks, bring all combat troops home from Iraq in 16 months, sign the "Freedom of Choice Act," give Americans $4,000 in credits for college and run a "transparent" administration.
However, after giving his word to the American people on so many issues, Obama has yet to fulfill many commitments.
WND has compiled the following extensive list of those abandoned promises:
Broken promise No. 1: 'Sunlight Before Signing'
When Obama campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination in Manchester, N.H., on June 22, 2007, he announced his "Sunlight Before Signing" promise.
"When there is a bill that ends up on my desk as the president, you the public will have five days to look online and find out what's in it before I sign it," he said.
He repeated that promise on his campaign website:
"Too often bills are rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them. As president, Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days."
However, Obama signed his first bill, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, on Jan. 20 – only two days after its passage.
He signed a second bill expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program just three hours after Congress passed it.
Again, on Feb. 17, Obama signed his 1,000-page $787 billion stimulus aimed at jolting the declining U.S. economy. He did so only one business day after it passed through Congress – without allowing for five days of public comment.
Broken promise No. 2: Capital gains tax elimination
According to his comprehensive tax plan released during his campaign, Obama promised to "eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses."
Just weeks prior to the election, Obama advisers Austan Goolsbee and Jason Furman told the Wall Street Journal that Obama planned tax cuts that included "the elimination of capital gains taxes for small businesses and start-ups."
People who invest in small businesses have only been allowed to exclude 50 percent of that gain from capital gains taxes. While Obama's $787 billion economic-stimulus package reduces that tax liability – raising the exclusion to 75 percent – it does not eliminate it.
Broken promise No. 3: New American jobs tax credit
During his transition, Obama's promised to provide a $3,000 refundable tax credit to existing businesses for every additional full-time U.S. employee hired in 2009 and 2010.
"If a company that currently has 10 U.S. employees increases its domestic full time employment to 20 employees, this company would get a $30,000 tax credit – enough to offset the entire added payroll tax costs to the company for the first $50,000 of income for the new employees," the transition website stated. "The tax credit will benefit all companies creating net new jobs, even those struggling to make a profit."
Obama's promise was never included in the stimulus package.
Broken promise No. 4: Hiatus on 401(k) penalties
Many unemployed and financially strapped Americans have considered early withdrawals on 401(k) and retirement accounts to survive the current recession. However, the IRS imposes strict penalties of up to 10 percent plus federal, state and local income taxes on such advances.
Workers who have taken $10,000 in early withdrawals from retirement plans have lost as much as 40 percent to taxes and penalties, depending upon tax brackets.
In October 2008, Obama released his "Rescue Plan for the Middle-Class" in which he promised to allow financially distressed Americans to withdraw up to $10,000 from their 401(k) accounts and retirement savings without having to pay penalties. They would only pay income taxes on the amount.
"Since so many Americans will be struggling to pay the bills over the next year, I propose that we allow every family to withdraw up to 15% from their IRA or 401(k) – up to a maximum of $10,000 – without any fine or penalty throughout 2009," Obama said. "This will help families get through this crisis without being forced to make painful choices like selling their homes or not sending their kids to college."
However, Obama's promise was never included in his recent stimulus package.
Broken promise No. 5: 'No jobs for lobbyists'
William J. Lynn III
Obama promised America he would loosen the grip of lobbyists on Washington.
In his Nov. 10, 2007, speech in Des Moines, Iowa, Obama declared:
I am in this race to tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over. I have done more than any other candidate in this race to take on lobbyists — and won. They have not funded my campaign, they will not run my White House, and they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I am president.
During his campaign, Obama also said, "I have done more to take on lobbyists than any other candidate in this race. I don't take a dime of their money, and when I am president, they won't find a job in my White House."
However, USA Today reported Obama's campaign fundraising team included 38 members of law firms that were paid $138 million in 2007 to lobby the federal government.
William Corr
"Those lawyers, including 10 former federal lobbyists, have pledged to raise at least $3.5 million" for Obama's campaign, the report states. "Employees of their firms have given Obama's campaign $2.26 million."
It wasn't long before he allowed at least two dozen exceptions and broke his promise.
Obama's own ethic rules barred officials of his administration from lobbying their former colleagues "for as long as I am president." He also said former lobbyists would be prohibited from working for agencies they had lobbied within the past two years. President Obama later waived his rules for at least two of his nominees – William J. Lynn III, undersecretary at the Department of Defense and recent lobbyist for Raytheon, and William Corr, deputy secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services and anti-tobacco lobbyist for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Broken promise No. 6: Earmark reform
As WND reports, at the first presidential debate in Oxford, Miss., Obama declared, "[W]e need earmark reform. And when I'm president, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely."
However, in February, Obama passed his $787 billion stimulus aimed at jolting the declining U.S. economy. Before a joint session of Congress, Obama declared: "Now, I'm proud that we passed a recovery plan free of earmarks."
Some chuckled in amusement when he claimed the bill contained no pork.
"There was just a roar of laughter – because there were earmarks," Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., told CNN.
U.S. News & World Report found at least eight earmarks in his stimulus bill.
Obama also signed a $410 billion omnibus bill for 2009. More than 9,000 earmarks in the spending bill total an estimated $7.7 billion.
Even though the Democrat-controlled Congress crafted the bill after Obama's election, the administration claims the added pork is just "unfinished business" from last year.
The White House website states, "Obama and Biden will slash earmarks to no greater than 1994 levels and ensure all spending decisions are open to the public." However, watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense reports that the omnibus pork alone already totals $7.7 billion – just less than the total of $7.8 billion in earmarks in 1994 – and the figure does not include $6.6 billion in earmarks contained in three previous spending bills Congress passed amid the bailout crisis last year.
During his three years in the Senate, Obama requested more than $860 million in earmarks, according to the group. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has 16 earmarks – worth approximately $8.5 million – in the bill.
Broken promise No. 7: Bring troops home in 16 months
On his campaign website, Obama promised he would "remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months."
His commitment to bring combat troops home by May 20, 2010, and end the war gave him an edge among Democrats over candidate Hillary Clinton.
However, on Feb. 27, Obama declared, "Let me say this as plainly as I can: By Aug. 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end."
If Obama adheres to his plan, combat troops will return home months later than originally promised. The New York Times reports, Obama will withdraw only two of the 14 brigades before December.
As part of a "new era of American leadership," he also said he would leave behind a residual force of 35,000 to 50,000 troops and remove all U.S. soldiers from Iraq by Dec. 31, 2011 – the same deadline the Bush administration negotiated with the Iraqi government last year in its Status of Forces Agreement.
Additionally, some combat units would remain in Iraq beyond Obama's declared August 2010 withdrawal. Rather than returning home, they would simply face reassignment as "advisory training brigades."
Even as combat troops are brought home, Pentagon officials have said fresh units will continue deploying to Iraq.
Broken promise No. 8: Sign 'Freedom of Choice Act'
On July 17, 2007, Obama told the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, "The first thing I'd do as president is, is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That's the first thing that I'd do."
Obama expressed his support for the sweeping plan that would repeal all national and state regulations of abortion passed over the last 35 years.
His agenda regarding "reproductive choice" is posted on the White House website. It states, Obama "has been a consistent champion of reproductive choice and will make preserving women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority in his Administration."
Obama chose radical pro-abortion Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to serve as the Health secretary, moved to void job protections for health workers who oppose abortion and repealed a ban on U.S. taxpayer funding of foreign abortions. While many pro-life advocates consider it a blessing that Obama has no fulfilled his promise to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, he has made no mention of the legislation since he took office.
Broken promise No. 9: $4,000 college credit
Obama pledged to make college "affordable for all Americans" when he announced his American Opportunity Tax Credit.
His campaign promise read: "This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans, and will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university and make community college tuition completely free for most students. Recipients of the credit will be required to conduct 100 hours of community service."
While the American Opportunity Tax Credit was included in the recent stimulus bill, it offers a credit of only $2,500 for up to two years and requires no commitment to community service.
Broken promise No. 10: Transparency
On the White House website, the Obama administration claims it will be "the most open and transparent in history.
The administration released a memo on Jan. 21, stating:
My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.Government should be transparent. Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing. …
However, Congress and the administration hurried the $787 billion, 1,027-page American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to a vote after allowing lawmakers just a few hours to read the bill. It was also available online in a form that could not be keyword searched.
While former administrations immediately posted transcripts of presidential speeches – including some remarks before delivery – the White House website often waits until days or even weeks after an event to release transcripts.
Also, some say recent reports of tax evasion by Obama nominees is evidence that the administration is not as transparent as promised.
Timothy Geithner
Just before Obama named Timothy Geithner to be his treasury secretary, the president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank quietly paid $26,000 in back taxes and interest due since 2001 and 2002.
Obama characterized the eight-year tax evasion as "an innocent mistake."
But as many as five of his picks defaulted on taxes, including former nominee for health and human services secretary, Tom Daschle; former nominee for chief performance officer, Nancy Killefer; U.S. trade representative nominee Ron Kirk and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis.
Furthermore, while the president posted his own weekly "fireside chats" on YouTube during the campaign, many journalists report that he has a history of being less than welcoming to the Fourth Estate.
Columbia Journalism Review noted Obama's treatment of the press: "During the campaign, reporters' access to Obama was severely limited. On-the-record conversations with the candidate were even more so. Indeed, Obama's overall treatment of the press – not just in his general rejection of the day-to-day news cycle, but also in his tendency to shun his national traveling press corps … created the impression that its members were, to him, a buzzing nuisance. Instead of the voice of the people."
WND's correspondent at the White House, Les Kinsolving, raised the issue in February that most of the reporters recognized for questions in the briefing room were among the same handful over and over again. Some of them had been given four or even five opportunities for questions while other reporters were not recognized at all.
Kinsolving, a senior journalist in the White House press corps, was not allowed to voice his questions on issues on which millions of WND readers have expressed an interest. There were also complaints about the time of the November election that not only did Obama rely on a few key reporters for questions, those reporters were chosen ahead of time.
And, finally, WND has reported on dozens of legal challenges to Obama's status as a "natural born citizen." The Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, states, "No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President."
Obama's alleged Certification of Live Birth is not his original 1961 birth certificate
However, Obama has refused repeated calls to publicly release his Hawaiian birth certificate, which would include the actual hospital that performed the delivery. His campaign posted an alleged "Certification of Live Birth" online, but it is not the same as a Hawaii birth certificate. COLBs have been issued by Hawaii to parents whose children are not born in the state.
Instead of providing the documentation to end the lawsuits, a series of law firms have been hired on Obama's behalf around the nation to prevent any public access to his birth certificate, passport records, college records and other documents. – even after more than 320,000 people signed a petition demanding that he live up to his promise of transparency by releasing the certificate to the public.
Nonetheless, during his campaign and after he took office, Obama maintained that his administration would have an unyielding commitment to transparency.
"The American people want to trust in our government again – we just need a government that will trust in us," he said in a campaign speech. "And making government accountable to the people isn't just a cause of this campaign – it's been a cause of my life for two decades."
The White House declined to respond to WND's request for comment on Obama's promises.


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I got this idea from my friend. We had Family Home Evening last week and for the activity (and really the lesson, too, because keeping young kids attentive for more than 5 minutes is nearly impossible) we came up with a Thankful Alphabet. In parenthesis is the person who came up with the thankful word. Some are really funny, some are just great!
Apples- because it is one of my kids' favorite snacks (Mom)
Babies- we love our babies (Dad)
Candy- do we really need an explanation??? (Kylie)
Dad- simply precious (Jacob)
Eggs- a great lunch for the kids (Britin)
Food- need I say more???(Mom)
God (Dad)
Heaven (Kylie)
Ice Cream- a man after my own heart (Jacob)
Jesus- there was no hinting on this one, she came up with it all on her own!!(Britin)
Kylie- he loves his sister (Jacob went out of turn, but he really wanted to say his sister)
Life (Mom)
Mommy- very good answer!!! (Dad)
Neighbors- they brought cookies over to us the night before, they really are great! (Kylie)
Owen- a friend from church (Jacob)
Plugs/pacifiers (Malia)
Quilts- she needed a little bit of help on this one (Britin)
Rabbits- they miss our bunny (Malia)
Sundays- I get to go to church with my family (Mom)
Tickles- daddy's favorite thing to do! (Dad)
Utah- a wonderful place to live (Kylie)
Vote- a blessing to do so in our country (Jacob)
Water (Britin)
Xoxoxoxo- kisses and hugs (Malia)
Youngbloods- a really special family (Mom)
Zippers- not a fan of button flies (Dad)
Side note- when we got to "u" it was Kylie's turn. She blurted out (no prompting, I swear) "I am NOT going to say Utes." In case you are not from around these parts, the University of Utah Utes are MAJOR rivals with the BYU Cougars (especially in football). Our family bleeds blue and Kylie has been present for many discussions on the highlights of my BYU glory days. Go Cougars! In honor of my Alma Mater the Cougar fight song is tonight's theme song. If you feel so inclined- here are the words. Sing Loud and Proud!!!
Rise, all loyal Cougars and hurl your challenge to the foe.
You will fight, day or night, rain or snow.
Loyal, strong, and true
Wear the White and Blue.
While we sing, get set to spring.
Come on Cougars, it's up to you!
So Rise and Shout, the Cougars are out
Along the the trail to fame and glory.
Rise and shout, our cheers will ring out,
As you unfold your vict'ry story.
On you go to vanquish the foe
For Alma Mater's sons and daughters.
As we join in song, in praise of you, our faith is strong.
We'll raise our colors high in the blue,
And cheer our Cougars of BYU.

subset: commoncrawl


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Call it newspaper pay-per-view.
As print institutions continue to fall by the wayside, the venerable Wall Street Journal is about to launch a system of "micro-payments" for individual stories on its website later this year, the Financial Times reported.
The service will begin in the fall, Robert Thomson, editor-in-chief of Dow Jones and managing editor of the Journal, told the FT.
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
Called a milestone for the industry, the payment system will make the Journal the first major newspaper to test out a business model many others have been considering.
The Journal, owned by media barron Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., is one of the few newspapers which has been able to maintain its readership in an age where circulation numbers for its peers are down some 10-20 percent each cycle. Subscription prices have risen 21 percent since Murdoch took over in 2007, although the Journal's advertising revenue has slipped, according to the Times.
Thomson said the Journal was working on a plan to charge small fees to occasional users who didn't want to shell out more than $100 for a full WSJ.com subscription.
Pricing for individual articles was still indeterminate, but Thomson told the FT it would be "rightfully high."


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- 2 Beds
- 2 Full Baths
Property TypeResidential – Condominium
SubdivisionMountain Haus
Listing Date06/12/19
Year Built1970
AreaVail Village
Lot Size0.01 Acres (436 SqFt)
ParkingSee Remarks
Property Description
Best priced two bedroom in Vail Village. Listen to the roar of Gore Creek from your private fourth floor balcony and take in views of Pepi's, the iconic Covered Bridge and the ski slopes of Vail. An easy stroll up Bridge Street for some of the best skiing, dining and shopping in North America.
Presented By
- Creek or River
- In Town
- Walk to Slopes
- Creek/River
- Mountains
- Ski Slopes
- South Facing
- Cross Country Trails
- Golf-Public
- Health Club Membership
- Hiking/Pedestrian Trail
- On Bus Line
- Pool
- Tennis Courts
- Deck
- Elevator
- Fireplace - Gas
- Wired for Cable
- Fitness Center
- Front Desk
- On Site Management
- Pool
- Spa and Hot Tub
- Cable TV
- District Sewer
- District Water
- Electricity Avail.
- Phone Available
- Snow Removal
- Trash Pickup
- Baseboard
- Common
- Natural Gas
- Common
Financial Information
We get asked this question a lot. Below is a tool that gives you the ability to see what the market is like in your community. Find out what homes like your own are selling for right in your back yard. Simply enter in your address, choose the proximity of the search and find out market data for other homes that are selling near you.
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Copyright © 2020 Vail Multi List, Inc. (VMLS). The information displayed herein was derived from sources believed to be accurate, but has not been verified by VMLS. Buyers are cautioned to verify all information to their own satisfaction. This information is exclusively for viewers' personal, non- commercial use. Any republication or reproduction of the information herein without the express permission of the VMLS is strictly prohibited.
Listing courtesy of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices - Lionshead


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In today's NRO, stating the obvious
An Instructive Candidacy: What Sarah Palin taught us about ourselves.
Victor Davis Hanson, NRO.com
Soon this depressing campaign will be over, and we can reflect on what we learned from our two-month introduction to Sarah Palin.
Clearly, it is more than we would have ever wished to know about ourselves.
First, there turns out to be no standard of objectivity in contemporary journalism. Palin's career as a city councilwoman, mayor, and governor of Alaska was never seen as comparable to, or — indeed, in terms of executive experience — more extensive than, Barack Obama's own legislative background in Illinois and Washington. Somehow we forgot that a mother of five taking on the Alaskan oil industry and the entrenched male hierarchy was somewhat more challenging than Barack Obama navigating the sympathetic left-wing identity politics of Chicago.
So we seem to have forgotten that the standards of censure of her vice-presidential candidacy were not applied equally to the presidential campaign of Barack Obama. The media at times seems unaware of this embarrassment, namely that their condemnation of Sarah Palin as inexperienced equally might apply to Barack Obama — and to such a degree that by default we were offered the lame apology (reiterated by Colin Powell himself) that Obama's current impressive campaigning, not his meager political accomplishments, was already an indication of a successful tenure as president. The result is that we now know more about the Palin pregnancies — both of mother and daughter — that we do the relationships of Tony Rezko, Bill Ayers, Reverend Wright, and Father Pfleger with our possible next president.
Indeed, the media itself — in private, I think — would admit that while have learned almost everything about Tasergate and the Bridge to Nowhere, we assume that at some future date a publicity-starved, megalomaniac Rev. Wright will soon offer his post-election memoirs, detailing just how close he and a President Obama were. Or we will learn Barack Obama and Bill Ayers, as long-time friends, in fact, did communicate via phone and e-mail well after Ayers had told the world, about the time of 9/11, that he, like our present-terrorist enemies, likewise wished he had engaged in more bombing attacks against the United States government. And the media never wondered whether a Palin's falling out with those who ran Alaska might have been more of a touchstone to character than Obama's own falling in with those who ran Chicago.
While Gov. Palin's frequent college transfers and Idaho degree are an item of snickering among pundits, none of them can claim to care much about Barack Obama's own undergraduate career. To suggest that he release his undergraduate transcript is near blasphemy; to scribble that Sarah Palin's Down Syndrome child was not her own is journalism as we now know it. To care that Joe Biden is vain, with bleached teeth, the apparent recipient of some sort of strange facial tightening tonic, and hair plugs is deservedly mean and petty; to sneer that the Alaskan mom of five bought a new wardrobe to run for Vice President is, of course, vital proof for the American voter of her vanity and shallowness.
Second, there does not seem to be much left of feminism any more. Of course, feminists once gave liberal pro-choice Bill Clinton a pass for his serial womanizing of vulnerable subordinates, and Oval Office antics with a young female intern. But they gave the game away entirely when they went after Gov. Palin for her looks, accent, pregnancies, and religion, culminating in assessments of her from being no real woman at all to an ingrate — piggy-backing on the pioneer work of self-acclaimed mavericks like themselves.
Feminism, it turns out, is no longer about equal opportunity and equal compensation, but, in fact, little more than a strain of contemporary elitist identity politics, and support for unquestioned abortion. Had Gov. Sarah Palin just been a mother of a single child at Vassar rather than of five in Alaska, married to a novelist rather than a snow-machiner, an advocate of pro-choice, who shot pictures of Alaskan ferns rather than shot moose — feminists would have hailed her as a principled kindred soul, and trumpeted her struggles against Alaskan male grandees.
So there was something creepy about droves of irate women, in lock-step blasting Sarah Palin from the corridors of New York and Washington, when most of them were the recipients of the traditional spoils of either family connections, inherited money, or the advantages that accrue from insider power marriages. Indeed, very few of Palin's critics on their own could have emerged from a small-town in Alaska, with an intact marriage and five children, to run the state of Alaska.
We have come to understand that — for a TV anchorwoman, op-ed columnist, or professor — it would be a nightmare to birth a Down Syndrome child in her mid-forties, or to have had her pregnant unwed teen actually deliver her baby. In the world outside Sarah Palin's Wasilla, these are career-ending blunders that abort the next job promotion or book tour— or the future career of a prepped young daughter on her way to the Ivy League.
Third, from the match-up of Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, we discovered that our media does not know anything about the nature of wisdom — how it is found or how it is to be adjudicated. For the last eight weeks, Palin has been demonized as a dunce because she did not, in the fashion of the class toady with his hand constantly up in the first row, impress in flash-card recall, the glasses-on-his-nose Charlie Gibson, or clinched-toothed Katie Couric.
Meanwhile Joe Biden has just been Ol' Joe Biden — which means not that he can get away with the occasional gaffe, but that can say things so outrageous, so silly, and so empty that, had they come out of the mouth of Sarah Palin, she would have long ago been forced to have stepped aside from the ticket.
Factual knowledge? Biden, in the midst of a financial meltdown on Wall Street, apparently thinks that the last time it happened in 1929, we heard FDR rally us on television. And such made-up nonsense came in the form, as many of Biden's gaffes do, of a rebuke to the supposedly obtuse George W. Bush.
Sobriety? Biden now admits that dangerous powers abroad will immediately test a President Obama. He warns that the results of such a crisis will be very disappointing to the American electorate, and thus Team Obama/Biden will need loyal supporters to rally as their polls sink. Yet remember that Biden himself has been a fierce and opportunistic critic of Bush, who despite a frenzy of congressional demagoguery, initiated the successful surge and ignored the very polls that the for-the-war/against-the-war Biden so carefully tracked. More importantly, if an Ahmadinejad, Chavez, or Putin ever had any doubts about carving out new spheres of uncontested influence, they may entertain very few now.
Veracity? If one were to think that Biden's past brushes with plagiarism, inflated bios, and falsehood were exceptional rather than characteristic, the last two months confirmed otherwise. For all the false recall, it is hard to remember anything he said in his Palin debate that was true, whether describing the status of Hezbollah in Lebanon or his own past remarks about the wisdom of burning coal.
Silliness? Imagine the following outbursts, mutatis mutandis, from the mouth of a Sarah Palin — "John McAmerica," "a Palin-McCain administration," "Senator George Obama," "Congressman Joe Biden," who is both "good looking," and "drop-dead gorgeous." Or "I guarantee you, John McCain ain't taking my shotguns. . . . If he tries to fool with my Beretta, he's got a problem. I like that little over and under, you know? I'm not bad with it. So give me a break."
Read it all


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City of Keller, TXHome Menu
City Calendar
The City Calendar offers information on upcoming meetings, regular programs and special events organized by the City of Keller. To see additional events going on in Keller hosted by nonprofit and other community organizations, please visit the
Tabletop Gaming
- Date: 11/06/2019 5:00 PM
- Location: Keller Public Library
640 Johnson Road
Keller, Texas 76248
- Introduction: For teens and adults
Looking for others to game with? Join us and play a wide variety of board games and card games every Wednesday night! Play some of ours or bring your own. This event is intended for teens and adults.Return to full list >>


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Revel started off slowly last year — and things have gotten worse since then.
A week before it is expected to emerge from bankruptcy court, Atlantic City's newest casino posted a 40 percent revenue decline from its opening month a year ago.
Revel took in just over $8 million last month, down from the $13.4 million it won in what was widely considered a disappointing opening month in April 2012.
Atlantic City's casino market as a whole saw its gambling revenue decline by 12.1 percent last month compared with a year ago.
Figures released Friday by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement show the 12 gambling halls took in $228.5 million.
Revenue from table games was $66.8 million, down 6 percent from April 2012. Slot machine revenue was $161.7 million, a 14.4 percent decrease due in part to the impact of a nearly 16 percent reduction in the amount of promotional credits that were wagered compared with the same month last year.
But Revel's revenue was clearly the biggest red flag in the monthly report, particularly as the $2.4 billion resort retools its operations and slashes its debt by turning over an 82 percent ownership stake to lenders.
"Although our April gaming revenues were disappointing, we are launching new initiatives that will drive future growth and re-introducing Revel to the gaming public over the next couple of months," Jeffrey Hartmann, Revel's interim CEO, said Friday. "Tonight we are opening our new Pearl Lounge, an exclusive members-only lounge for Pearl Card holders, that will promote increased loyalty among our existing guests and attract new slot players to Revel. This is the first of many new amenities and investments being made at Revel as we seek to broaden our appeal across a variety of demographics and gaming preferences."
Only Caesars Atlantic City (up 5.9 percent to $29.1 million) and The Atlantic Club Casino Hotel (up nearly 37 percent to $11.3 million) reported revenue increases in April.
Aside from Revel, the greatest decline was experienced at Trump Plaza Hotel Casino, which is in a tenuous position as a deal to sell it by the end of this month to a California company fell through. Trump Plaza was down 32.3 percent to just over $6 million for the month, one of the worst performances for an Atlantic City casino in recent history.
Bally's Atlantic City was down nearly 30 percent to $19 million; The Tropicana Casino and Resort was down 23 percent to $20.5 million; and Harrah's Resort Atlantic City was down 19.2 percent to nearly $28 million.
The Showboat Casino Hotel was down 17 percent to $16.5 million; Resorts Casino Hotel was down 13 percent to just under $10 million; and the Golden Nugget Atlantic City was down 10.7 percent to $9.3 million.
The Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa had a rare down month, declining 1.5 percent to $48.9 million, and the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort was down 1.3 percent to $21.7 million.
For the first four months of the year, Atlantic City's casinos won $884.6 million, a decline of 12.1 percent from the first four months of 2012.
Wayne Parry can be reached at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC


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Dear classmates:
Hard to believe it's been 50 years since we graduated from Chapman College. I still think of classes with Bert Williams, Jim Utter, and Kurt Bergel, having coffee in the Student Union with Walter Bock, and backpacking in the High Sierras with Don Booth. With your assistance I'm sure I'll remember a lot more when we get together for our 50th Reunion (May 22-25, 2014).
It's been a tradition for the 50th reunion class to make a gift to the Chapman Scholarship Fund. Your reunion committee has decided our gift should honor of the memory or our classmates who are no longer with us. This scholarship fund will celebrate the legacy left by friends like Woody Dietch, Margaret (Swann) Harrison, Jeff Cotwright, Karen (Finley) Bailey, Raymond Duty, Linda (Irwin) Johnson, Bud Talbot, Marian (Wilkerson) Vertrees and many others. I can't think of a better way to pay tribute to our friends than by creating opportunities for deserving students to grow and learn at our beloved alma mater.
The time we spent at Chapman College shaped our lives and gave us memories and friendships to last a lifetime. I hope you'll celebrate this incredible journey by contributing to the Class of 1964 Memorial Scholarship and making plans to attend our 50th Reunion Weekend. Registration details will be mailed in early 2014 as part of our 1964 Class Reunion Newsletter.
Best wishes,
Larry Sawyer '64
Class of 1964 Reunion Gift Chair


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Home → Fire Equipment Signs → gas shut off
Fire Equipment Signs - Items tagged as "Gas shut off"
A selection of signs to identify or advise on how to use fire equipment.
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Subdued O.J. back in court in bid for freedom
The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — A weary-looking O.J. Simpson weighed down by shackles and more than four years in prison shuffled into a Las Vegas courtroom on Monday hoping to eventually walk out a free man.
His arrival in court to ask for a new trial in the armed robbery-kidnapping case that sent him to prison in 2008 for up to 33 years could be heard before he was seen — as a loud rattling of the chains that bound his hands to his waist and restrained his feet.
His lawyers had unsuccessfully argued to forego the shackles. After the 65-year-old Simpson was seated, a guard removed his handcuffs and clicked them onto the chair arms next to him.
The once-glamorous football star and TV pitchman was subdued in his dingy blue prison uniform. Grayer and heavier, he briefly flashed a smile and mouthed a greeting to people he recognized before being stopped by a bailiff.
Simpson listened intently as his lawyers tried to make the case that he had poor legal representation in the trial involving the gunpoint robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers in 2007 in a Las Vegas hotel room. Of the 22 allegations of conflict-of-interest and ineffective counsel his lawyers raised, Clark County District Court Judge Linda Marie Bell has agreed to hear 19.
Simpson has said his former attorney, Yale Galanter, had rejected appropriate defense moves and even met with Simpson the night before the disastrous heist to bless the plan as long as no one trespassed and no force was used.
Galanter was paid nearly $700,000 for Simpson's defense but had a personal interest in preventing himself from being identified as a witness to the crimes and misled Simpson so much that he deserves a new trial, lawyers for Simpson claim.
Simpson is expected to testify Wednesday and say Galanter advised him that he was within his rights to retrieve family pictures and footballs being peddled by memorabilia dealers.
Galanter has declined comment before his scheduled court appearance Friday.
A lawyer for Simpson co-defendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart testified Monday that a plea deal was offered to Simpson and Stewart in the midst of trial.
Brent Bryson said prosecutors told him the offer called for a two- to five-year sentence for each defendant in return for guilty pleas. Prosecutors said they were presenting it to Simpson's lawyers but later said there was no deal, Bryson said.
Bryson didn't know if Simpson had ever been told about the deal by his lawyer. Simpson, who will be 70 before he is eligible for parole, claims he was not.
Under questioning by defense lawyers Patricia Palm and Ozzie Fumo, Bryson and Simpson friend James Barnett, a wealthy businessman, said Galanter's biggest mistake was not challenging the admission of an audio recording of the hotel room incident.
"The tapes were untrustworthy," Bryson said. "Files had been uploaded. Experts could not testify to their authenticity."
Barnett said he asked Galanter why he wasn't hiring an expert to analyze the recording.
"He said, 'If you would give us $250,000, we would have it done. We don't have the money to analyze the tapes," Barnett testified.
Barnett said he was told by Galanter's co-counsel, Gabriel Grasso, that Grasso had his 15-year-old son help him analyze the recordings.
Galanter allegedly insisted the recordings on which Simpson was heard telling people that nobody was to leave the hotel room would help his case rather than harm it.
Bryson said it was mistake.
"The jury specifically stated they convicted on the tapes because they considered the witnesses to be less than credible," he said. "They could have filed a motion to suppress the recordings and they didn't."
Bryson ridiculed the idea that it would cost $250,000 for audio analysis, saying he could have had it done for $5,000 "and maybe a case of beer."
Simpson has said Galanter also discouraged him from testifying.
"He consistently told me the state could not prove its case because I acted within my rights in retaking my own property," Simpson said in a sworn statement.
Simpson's expression was flat and he showed little reaction to the testimony on Monday.
At a break, bailiffs hooked up his handcuffs to the heavy shackles again and he had trouble lifting himself from the chair.
Still, a close friend saw a flash of the old, magnetic Simpson personality.
"Not much muscle tone," observed Sherman White, a former NFL defensive lineman, teammate and friend of Simpson since they both played for the Buffalo Bills. "But you saw a little of the O.J. pizazz when he came in."
White was joined in the courtroom by two Simpson cousins who had flown in for support.
Simpson's drab appearance contrasted with the fancy clothing he wore during his acquittal in his historic, high-profile 1995 murder trial in Los Angeles in which he was acquitted of slaying his wife and her friend.
Simpson was later found liable for damages in a civil wrongful death lawsuit and ordered to pay $33.5 million to the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
In contrast to the national swirl surrounding his "trial of the century" in Los Angeles and the circus-like atmosphere during his trial in Las Vegas, Monday's proceedings attracted none of the fans, protesters or attention-seekers typically drawn to celebrity cases.
Except for an extra television truck or two, it was business as usual outside the courthouse.
When the hearing opened the courtroom was partly empty and an overflow room with closed-circuit hookups wasn't needed.


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Steve Wozniak will now be on Sony Pictures' payroll, giving its Steve Jobs biopic both his technical and historical advice.
Aaron Sorkin, the film's screenwriter reported the news Friday, according to Reuters, stating that Wozniak would be a "tutor" on the project to give the studio technical knowledge and information about Jobs. No doubt Wozniak's insight will help how the role of Jobs will be portrayed.
Wozniak quit Apple in 1987, but continued to count Jobs as a friend until his death of pancreatic cancer last year.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
Sorkin was publicizing his new HBO series, "The Newsroom" Friday, when he was asked about the Jobs project, which is based on Walter Isaacson's bestselling biography.
"I know so little about what I am going to write. I know what I am not going to write. It can't be a straight ahead biography because it's very difficult to shake the cradle-to-grave structure of a biography, " Sorkin told Reuters.
Sorkin also penned the overwrought, "The Social Network," (he won an Oscar for best adapted screenplay) so we have mixed feelings on whether this will be a decent biopic, or something with a synthetic conflict based more on Sorkin's life than the subject's own.


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Showing 1 - 20 of 49
Blog State Budget
Balancing the State Budget – Halfway There, But Running Out of Gas?
December 19, 2011The Governor should avoid more new taxes as the way to close the rest of the budget gap and instead focus on containing spending growth in Medicaid, pensions, education, and economic development.
Report State Budget
Giving and Getting
December 19, 2011The report analyzes the regional distribution of revenues collected and dollars spent within the New York State budget by examining actual receipts and expenditures for the 2009-10 fiscal year. It finds that downstate gives more to the State in taxes and revenues than it gets back in expenditures for services and other assistance and that upstate gets more than it gives.
Report Capital Spending
New York City's Water and Sewer System
December 14, 2011This report provides a history of the City's water rental payment, critiques the current method for setting the rent, and suggests alternative approaches to setting the rent.
Report Health Care
A Poor Way to Pay for Medicaid
December 11, 2011This paper examines the fiscal inequities and other problems that arise as a result of New York's large
local share for Medicaid financing.
Blog Taxes
The Tax Hike's Silver Lining
December 07, 2011If the temporary personal income tax hike is the price we pay for long-term reforms that enhance infrastructure, encourage job growth, make the state and local tax system more equitable, and reduce future pension costs, then it is a price worth paying.
Blog Capital Spending
The Dos and Don'ts of PPPs
December 04, 2011Dos and Don'ts for the use of PPPs, or "P3s" adapted from the CBC's 2008 report, "How Public-Private Partnerships Can Help New York Address Its Infrastructure Needs."
Blog Pensions & Benefits
New York City Is Not Alone
November 16, 2011Reducing the pensions funds' investment target to 7% would be prudent in order to keep the City's pension funds fully funded, and it would be consistent with changes that have been adopted by other large public pension systems.
Report City Budget
What is a "Balanced Budget"?
November 08, 2011This brief examines the multiple versions of a balanced budget standard that have arisen from the City's deviation from Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and recent modifications to GAAP that set a new and higher benchmark for a balanced budget.
Blog Education
Needed Mandate Relief on the Way?
November 01, 2011New York State imposes more than 200 special education mandates above and beyond those required by federal law; changes are needed to bring NY in line with other states.
Blog Public Workforce
Another Good Idea to Save the City Money
October 27, 2011The New York City union welfare funds could also use some "depoliticizing, professionalizing and streamlining."
Testimony City Budget
Testimony on NYC Solid Waste Management Practices
October 27, 2011New York is being wasteful in its waste management practices. We could save tens of millions, perhaps even hundreds of millions, of dollars without harming the environment by more sensibly managing New Yorkers' solid waste. An improved system for waste collection and disposal could prevent further reductions in essential services in coming budgets.
Blog Pensions & Benefits
How Much Did New York's 2010 Early Retirement Incentive Save?
October 25, 2011The CBC estimates that early retirement incentives saved taxpayers $681 million savings- less than would have been saved if the Governor had been able to achieve through layoffs.
Blog Health Care
Cause for Concern with the Medicaid Redesign Team Implementation
October 13, 2011NY is roughly halfway to meeting its budgeted Medicaid savings target of $2.2 billion for fiscal year 2012. A closer look suggests there is cause for concern that some of the savings may not be implemented on time.
Video City Budget
NYC Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo
September 21, 2011CBC Breakfast with Corporation Counsel Michael A. Cardozo in September 2011.
Report Economic Development
Avoiding Past Mistakes
September 12, 2011This report examines New York State economic development programs' past mistakes and explores the potential to improve meaningful outcomes via new regional councils designed to streamline and coordinate the current array of state economic development efforts. It warns of the danger that new regional councils will become new heads on the already huge an unwieldy New York State economic development portfolio.
Video Pensions & Benefits
Robert Steel, NYC Deputy Mayor
August 31, 2011CBC Breakfast with NYC Deputy Mayor Bob Steel in August 2011.
Blog Public Workforce
What Concessions?
August 28, 2011A close look at the agreements between Mayor Bloomberg and city unions reveals that jobs were not saved by labor concessions but through diverting other resources or creating new risks in the budget.
Blog State Budget
Stop the Wishful Thinking about a New York State Mid-Year "Surplus"
August 22, 2011Talk of a surplus and using it for new initiatives should end immediately.
Blog Pensions & Benefits
Another Promising Sign
July 12, 2011The Citizen Budget Commission congratulates Governor Andrew Cuomo on his veto of A6309/S4067, the bill that proposed allowing school districts to borrow over $1 billion for pension costs.


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Bart Gordon to retire
Tennessee Rep. Bart Gordon will not seek re-election in 2010, becoming the fourth Democrat sitting in a swing district to retire in the last several weeks.
"When I was elected, I was the youngest member of the Tennessee congressional delegation; now, I'm one of the oldest," Gordon said in a statement announcing his decision. "In fact, I have members of my staff who weren't even born when I took office. That tells me it's time for a new chapter."
Gordon has held the central Tennessee 6th district since 1984 but was headed to his most serious race in recent memory in 2010 as national Republicans had aggressively recruited against him due to the GOP lean of the seat. (Arizona Sen. John McCain carried it with 62 percent in 2008 and President George W. Bush won it with 60 percent four years earlier.)
Gordon along with Reps. Brian Baird (Wash.), John Tanner (Tenn.) and Dennis Moore (Kans.) have announced their retirements in recent weeks from seats that will be major Republican targets in 2010.
Democratic strategists have insisted that the series of retirements are isolated cases not indicative of a broader fear among Members of Congress that the political environment is shaping up badly for their party in 2010. It may be more difficult to make that argument now.
"It's official: Democrats now have a retirement problem," declared National Republican Congressional Committee communications director Ken Spain in the immediate aftermath of the Gordon decision.
Democrats now have 11 open seats (two are vacancies that will be filled by special elections). Of those districts, seven are competitive. House Republicans currently have 12 retirements, three of which are regarded as highly competitive.
Chris Cillizza
December 14, 2009; 10:42 AM ET
Categories: House
Save & Share: Previous: Morning Fix: Obama's tough love for bankers
Next: The most important number in politics today
This can mean one of two things:
1. A chance for a fresh Democrat face to run for office without the stimulus/healthcare reform baggage. A democrat strategy.
2. An opportunity for a Republican to run and win. I don't mean a conservative since a lot of Democrats run disguised as one and then they kick their constituents in their butt. For this the Republican Party needs to concentrate on the fact that nothing has been done for the individual voter while we are all going to pay dearly for each item on the Administration's agenda that has been passed.
Posted by: hdl549 | December 15, 2009 6:27 PM | Report abuse
So, that's where the Family Guy meme came from. True confessions time. I gave it no consideration for awhile and flipped over a few times while there were breaks in what I was watching in late night and got hooked. There are some hilarious and spot on cultural references. They come at you unexpectedly. The FCC Song is priceless. The Star Trek parody (All Dogs Go To Heaven) managed to snag most of the crew of ST:TNG.
So, yeah, FG is profane AND funny. I can life with the former and enjoy the latter. Still can't figure out why American Dad is still around or the Cleveland Show ever existed. I wasn't too fond of B&B (the movie was funny), but was a big fan of King of the Hill.
Posted by: FairlingtonBlade | December 14, 2009 9:46 PM | Report abuse
Over and out.
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 7:38 PM | Report abuse
Wrong, Jake, if I were to post boast after boast after boast about tossing out large sums of money to make insignificant political points, and then boasted about taking charity from a church, and someone called me on the hypocrisy (to say nothing of the brazen contradiction in my fiscal condition), I would own up to it because I am a fundamentally honest person.
For someone who spends so much time making sick insinuations about other people you sure have a thin skin. You whine about "personal attacks" more than everyone on here put together.
Over .. and out.
Posted by: GoldAndTanzanite | December 14, 2009 7:11 PM | Report abuse
I've never clicked "Report Abuse" or written long complaints to our gracious host. I'm pretty sure, though, that you or drindl would consider anyone calling you liars, immune to shame, un American, tax cheats, etc. as "personal attacks". If you actually stop responding to me, that would go a long way toward reducing said personal attacks. Good luck with that.
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 6:36 PM | Report abuse
Just click "Report Abuse" or write long obsequious complaints to CC, Jake, I'm not interested in hearing from you or in your judgment.
Look, Jake, I don't like you. You tell lies and you're a troll. You don't like me because I'm an atheist and a homosexual. No number of civility scolds will ever make me like you, and it would take years of unbroken veracity before I could even begin to respect you, so how about you just stop responding to me at all because I am really not interested in anything you have to say.
I won't talk about you, whether you're in the thread or not, and you don't talk about me, in the thread or not.
Posted by: GoldAndTanzanite | December 14, 2009 6:28 PM | Report abuse
Careful with the personal attacks, GoldAndTanzanite.
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 6:09 PM | Report abuse
There is going to be a blood bath for the Spendocrats who rubber stamped all of these bills in 2010.
Religion is the opiate of the people - Karl Marx
Backlash is the opiate of the wingnuts - GoldAndTanzanite
Posted by: GoldAndTanzanite | December 14, 2009 6:08 PM | Report abuse
I saw a few minutes of "Family Guy" once. Made me want to throw my shoe at the TV. How anyone could find that cartoon stuff funny is beyond my comprehension. The wife and daughter with little triangles for noses, the baby who talks like a butler, the talking dog .. about seven orders of magnitude too stupid to be funny.
I think of television as something for kids.
Posted by: GoldAndTanzanite | December 14, 2009 5:53 PM | Report abuse
Charity is never enough to reach all who need it. People who claim charity who don't need it should be horsewhipped in the public square since they're clearly immune to shame.
Posted by: GoldAndTanzanite | December 14, 2009 5:45 PM | Report abuse
See, Jake, you've been caught in SO many lies that now when you post some boast like relocating across the country just to cast a vote you don't get a single reader believing you.
"Oh, another claim by JakeD, must be another lie."
Maybe if you abandoned your moniker, came back under another with all the little writing tics ("in a civil manner," "let me know," etc) dropped and spent a few months posting actual true facts instead of falsehoods you might have a shot at posting something as nonsensical as the Connecticut move and being believed by one maybe two readers but now? As things stand? Not a chance.
Next time try a less extravagant lie for example "I'm sending a jillion dollars to Dodd's opponent," or something.
Or maybe a zillion.
Posted by: GoldAndTanzanite | December 14, 2009 5:39 PM | Report abuse
LOL!!! I didn't "pretend" with my church or GM dealer.
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 5:38 PM | Report abuse
There is not an incumbent walking that deserves my vote. Especially true in Nevada.
Posted by: gainersmom | December 14, 2009 5:21 PM | Report abuse
Well I guess that Jakey is admitting that he intentionally screwed GM in their most troubling time by "pretending" he wanted to purchase one of their most expensive automobiles, take joy rides in it and then return it so he didn't have to pay and they take a loss.
What differs him from a tax cheat or a welfare cheat?
How Un American.
And then he accepts food baskets from local churches knowing dang well he can afford food because he has the money to jet around the country, or leave his home in San Diego and move to a wealthy state just so he can cast a vote.
Wow, how utterly Christ-like of you jakey.
Posted by: JRM2 | December 14, 2009 5:02 PM | Report abuse
I think The Family Guy cartoon is a great social commentary, and I am not "pretending" about anything I've ever posted.
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 4:25 PM | Report abuse
"My wife and I will be voting Republican next year to get Sen. Dodd (D-CT) out of office -- we would also vote Republican if Sarah Palin is running for President in 2012 - it has to do with "common sense" conservatism.
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 11:35 AM |"
Jakes brand of "common sense conservatism"
Vote for a quitter who does fundraisers for (socialist) hospitals that perform abortions (I guess everybody can be bought) because he thinks she's hot.
Pretend to jet around the country to settle his grudges while taking food baskets from local churches
Pretend to buy a Corvette then return it so the AMERICAN auto manufacturer GM which is in dire straights has to sell it as used and take a loss.
You and Sarah Palin can say the phrase "common sense conservatism" till you turn blue but I've seen nothing like that from either of you.
Posted by: JRM2 | December 14, 2009 4:10 PM | Report abuse
"These Democrat Rats are looking to abandon ship before the angry villagers show up with tar and feathers...
Posted by: Bubbette1"
Except for the fact that there are 11 Republicans retiring and 9 Democrats.
Your ignorance is showing. Were you one of those kids who didn't do their homework in school?
Posted by: JRM2 | December 14, 2009 3:57 PM | Report abuse
These Democrat Rats are looking to abandon ship before the angry villagers show up with tar and feathers as they spend our Nation and our children's future into oblivion. There is going to be a blood bath for the Spendocrats who rubber stamped all of these bills in 2010. A nice coat of tar and feathers to see them on their way would be great.
Posted by: Bubbette1 | December 14, 2009 3:49 PM | Report abuse
Most of the turnover I've read about so far confirms the trend of the GOP becoming a Southern regional party. I'm not very sure that's in the long term interest of a party with national ambitions. Could be a bit of one step forward, three steps back.
Posted by: nodebris | December 14, 2009 2:47 PM | Report abuse
I think the REAL lesson from the comments section is people take themselves WAY too seriously. Lighten up people. Bart Gordon retired because polling was showing him losing to State Sen. Tracy and he didn't want to go out in defeat. As it pertains to ring wingers vs commies, I just ignore them, because there are plenty of partisan web blogs where they can indulge themselves in partisan groupthink.
Posted by: TexasProud1 | December 14, 2009 2:44 PM | Report abuse
"I am still thinking about moving to CT next year....Because I want to vote against Sen. Dodd (D-CT) and volunteer for his opponent....Did I tell you that I'm thinking about moving to New London for the election?"
All posted by JakeD on September 17, 2009.
As Margaret says, you tell so many stories Jake.
What was the one about the Corvette? I missed that one.
Posted by: Bondosan | December 14, 2009 2:33 PM | Report abuse
Pawlenty's problems with the TEA people:
If you're a Republican from the state next door & the Iowa conservatives don't endorse you, its hard to see a path to the Presidency.
Posted by: bsimon1 | December 14, 2009 2:21 PM | Report abuse
Didn't you know that hypocrisy has been elevated to a sacred creed by the wingers, margaret?
Posted by: drindl | December 14, 2009 2:17 PM | Report abuse
Do Democrats now that the Democratic party has been made the party of Wall Street by the current administration really believe that they will win in 2010?
Posted by: bsallamack | December 14, 2009 2:12 PM | Report abuse
i did not know you were married pilgrim.
did you make her flash her birth certificate to ya before you proposed?
Posted by: TheBabeNemo | December 14, 2009 2:08 PM | Report abuse
Wait a minute. One of our most vocally Christian posters is watching Family Guy? Did he get a big laugh out of their abortion special?
Posted by: margaretmeyers | December 14, 2009 2:08 PM | Report abuse
not abolish, just clean up..
There is so much free and crooked money running through Medicare and Social Security. The grants alone, that are awarded through the SSAct-- for healthcare integration (of programs) ---gets lost at the state level.
States take the money and run.
Then Medicare...it already has
Medicare Long Term and Medicare Long Term Catastrophic. What about those 2 programs?
Posted by: TheBabeNemo | December 14, 2009 2:01 PM | Report abuse
My wife and I tithe much more than that to our church -- there's no income test for the food pantry -- any member can get the discounted food. We also did not fly out to Boston for the sole reason of protesting Gates. We are not moving just to vote against Sen. Dodd. Next canard?
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 1:59 PM | Report abuse
As the duopoly (and their commenters above) trade their silly barbs, it is obvious that the leftward/d and rightward/r alignment of those parties continues. America needs a middle ground party....
Posted by: lovinliberty | December 14, 2009 1:58 PM | Report abuse
drindl stated the following
But let's review. As a Center for American Progress Action Fund report found, under a Bush-style privatization plan, a October 2008 retiree would have lost $26,000 in the market plunge. If the U.S. stock market had behaved like the Japanese market during the duration of that retiree's work life, "a private account would have experienced sharp negative returns, losing $70,000 — an effective -3.3 percent net annual rate of return." And this doesn't take into account the full plunge of the stock market, which dipped below 7,000 in March 2009.
This is interesting but let me throw something out. I graduated from high school in June, 1961. The Dow Jones average was 684. AT the lowest point earlier this this year, the Dow Jones average was 6627, an increase of 968.85 per cent. It is back over 10000 today. Just imagine if all of the social security that I paid over the years was invested in the Dow Jones average and the retirement income that I would have even with the stock market taking the drop that it did earlier this year.
The government investing your money is never a winner.
Posted by: sales7 | December 14, 2009 1:55 PM | Report abuse
And these people WILL have influence on the next election -- throwing into question a LOT of republican seats:
"Armey, whose tea party movement is already shedding its non-partisan veneer to officially support Republican candidates, is attempting to "purify" Pawlenty's record to make him more palatable to the base. But given that Pawlenty has violated so many tea party principles, Armey's declaration of support is all the more perplexing:
– Pawlenty endorsed the Wall Street bailout package in 2008. Tea party groups often trace their interest in activism to the beginning of the bank bailouts.
– Pawlenty proposed his own cap and trade system and signed an ambitious law cutting carbon emissions. Tea party groups regularly deride both ideas as a "government takeover."
– Pawlenty's top economic adviser has toured his state, touting its success and the "tangible results from this funding." Tea party groups angrily opposed the stimulus.
– In 2007, Pawlenty signed an anti-predatory mortgage law crafted in part by representatives from ACORN.
Hate radio talkers like Glenn Beck have jettisoned Pawlenty for his past transgressions, like pushing for cap and trade. To Beck, Pawlenty and other politicians who have supported the bailouts "sound like Democrats."
Posted by: drindl | December 14, 2009 1:51 PM | Report abuse
What is the percentage for Obama Cabinet members?
Posted by: llrllr | December 14, 2009 1:51 PM | Report abuse
Another winning strategy. Do try to abolish Medicare and Social Security, teabaggers. Go for it!
"In an interview with CBS News, corporate lobbyist and FreedomWorks leader Dick Armey mused about the direction of the GOP and the future of the tea party movement that his group has cultivated. Armey extolled conservatives for having "clarity" in their positions, yet hedged on whether his strict conservative beliefs would mean fighting to abolish Medicare, Social Security, or other programs not explicitly authorized in the Constitution. "
Posted by: drindl | December 14, 2009 1:48 PM | Report abuse
Houston's Mayor is all the news today too.
Posted by: TheBabeNemo | December 14, 2009 1:41 PM | Report abuse
Here's an example of the context missing from The Fix's post. The story is about a conservative assemblyman in California who is now the target of a recall effort, because he supported th Governor's budget, which included some tax increases. The author uses the story to demonstrate how the California GOP is fractured & rudderless; a description that applies equally well to the national party. Particularly noteworthy, I thought, was the observation of how former CA Governor (and US President) Ronald Reagan would be treated by the party that views him as the crowning achievement of their party.
"The ongoing divisions trouble longtime GOP members who are old enough to have served during the party's glory days. Stuart Spencer, a trusted political adviser to Ronald Reagan during his governorship and presidency, questions how Reagan would have fared in a California GOP primary today. Reagan, he said, was about putting together a "big tent for Republicans," wanting to leave room for moderates in his party who occasionally strayed from absolute fealty to conservative ideals. "I'm not sure he could win an election here today; he wasn't that kind of conservative," Spencer said. He added: "Now, if the far right here doesn't like the way somebody has voted on one or two issues, on taxes, they're against them." "
Good luck with that strategy, boys.
Posted by: bsimon1 | December 14, 2009 1:38 PM | Report abuse
Sorry Jake, I meant to type the GOP should consider sitting out 2012. However, after careful consideration, they may actually want to sit out 2012 and 2016. Good thinking. I blame my keyboard, BTW!
Posted by: free-donny | December 14, 2009 1:33 PM | Report abuse
Look at these drooling rightwingnuts, talking out of one side of their mouths about this obscure congressman quitting, and out of the other how they much they love and respect the nation's most prominent quitter, Sarah Palin.
Posted by: koolkat_1960 | December 14, 2009 1:25 PM | Report abuse
44% of Americans would prefer that the 22nd Amendment be repealed and GWB be back as President again ; )"
Hey charityboy,
Did you get the numbers on what percentage would prefer Bill Clinton to the ol' brush-clearer?
Posted by: koolkat_1960 | December 14, 2009 1:22 PM | Report abuse
Rats leaving the ship. These guys were in line for a beating in 2010 and they know it. Change you can believe in!
Posted by: zippyspeed
Still beats what Sarah Palin did. Lost it for McCain, and then bailed on her responsibilities by quitting as governor.
What's that you said about believing in?
Maybe she'll star in that pornflick with Levi Johnston.
Posted by: HumanSimpleton | December 14, 2009 1:07 PM | Report abuse
When the going gets tough the "tough" get going?
Posted by: njtoU
No, they go rogue instead (c.f. Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska)
Oh wait a minute, Palin did not retire, she quit!
Seriously goobers need to read a newspaper once in while. Heck, they should read something!
Posted by: HumanSimpleton | December 14, 2009 1:04 PM | Report abuse
I would be happy if all the long serving congressmen D,R and I, would resign. IMO it is the lack of term limits that creates the more serious problems in congress. Some of these men (and they are mostly men) represent perspectives that have not kept up with the evolution of America. Most of them appear to have lost touch with anything but the fringe. All of them are in the pockets of the big lobbyists. I suggest: let everyone who has been in congress for more than 2 terms (Senate) or 4 terms (House) resign. Now let the flames from the fringes begin!
Posted by: mraymond10 | December 14, 2009 1:00 PM | Report abuse
The times they are a changing:
"This past weekend finally brought some historic happy-making news to America with the election of openly gay Annise Parker as mayor of Houston, Texas, the fourth largest city in the United States.
Ms. Parker's entrance into the openly gay mayoral world that includes Betrand Delanoe of Paris, Klaus Wowereit of Berlin, and Corine Mauch of Zurich, is a milestone in history."
Posted by: drindl | December 14, 2009 12:59 PM | Report abuse
Rats leaving the ship. These guys were in line for a beating in 2010 and they know it. Change you can believe in!
Posted by: zippyspeed | December 14, 2009 12:56 PM | Report abuse
bsmion -- the best part was this:
"It's official: Democrats now have a retirement problem," declared National Republican Congressional Committee communications director Ken Spain"
I actually laughed out loud. What else is someone like this going to say?
Posted by: drindl | December 14, 2009 12:54 PM | Report abuse
If Israel does attack Iran's nuclear facilities, it will undoubtedly result in a regional war after Iran and Syria signed a mutual defense agreement on Sunday.(Snip)Speaking to Syrian media, Vahidi said the agreement was a strong deterrent to an Israeli strike on his country's nuclear facilities. Vahidi said that in addition to a Syrian response, Iran would retaliate for any strike on its nuclear facilities by firing ballistic missiles at Israel's nuclear facilities.
Liberal leadership. Message received. Weakness does not project strength.
Posted by: ZOUK | December 14, 2009 12:48 PM | Report abuse
It seems that the only hope for Libs in the next few elections is for the Repubs to sit out. the tide has turned as the effects of liberal governing has been seen and felt by all.
Want a job? vote R!
It's really that simple.
Posted by: ZOUK | December 14, 2009 12:46 PM | Report abuse
Gosh, Jake:
For a 77-year-old Korean War vet who has to accept charity from his local church just to get by, you sure do travel a lot.
Let's see, you live in California, but you flew across country just to be able to protest outside of Henry Louis Gates' house.
And now you and the Mrs. are moving to Connecticut just to be able to vote against Senator Dodd.
Does your church know about your lavish spending sprees? If so, they might want to reconsider how they allocate their charity....
Posted by: Bondosan | December 14, 2009 12:45 PM | Report abuse
Sit out 2012 AND 2016?!
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 12:42 PM | Report abuse
I actually think the GOP should sit out 2016. Give President Obama as long to fix the problems that Cheney and Bush created. The pluses for repubes are....8 years to save up campaign resources...and to bring up some new "talent" to challenge for WH.
Sorry zouk and Jake, Palin winning the WH, is a pipe dream....(crackpipe). The sooner the GOP seriuosly begins to recreate itself, the better off they'll be.
Posted by: free-donny | December 14, 2009 12:38 PM | Report abuse
ha, ha, it is to laugh (Daffy Duck circa 1950).
The DNC is scrambling to post press releases spinning these retirements as 'meaningless'. Sorry. The cat is out of the bag and the swing districts (e.g., blue dog dems) are running 'scared'.
Nancy and Harry better get the socialist manifesto passed prior to the holiday break. No votes from blue dogs in 2010 for 'social engineering' as the election nears.
Ha, Ha!!!
Posted by: jhpbriton | December 14, 2009 12:38 PM | Report abuse
Every day that President Obama pushes for the government take over of health care he injures families by the thousands across America. Every day that President Obama contemplates the idea of spending trillions more of yours and my tax dollars, the less the chances of his being able to reduce the non-voluntary unemployment/under-employment rates that are now drastically impacting one out of every five families in America. (By comparison at President Bush's jobs crisis peak - only one out of every fourteen families were impacted.) And by refusing to seriously address the need for job creation, and by invoking ridiculous and silly propositions like "jobs saved" the President demonstrates a callousness not to one injured spouse, but to an aching nation.
President Obama, from all appearances, will refuse to admit that his statist view of the world has any flaws in it whatsoever. He will dig in. He will give more speeches. He will possibly even accept more absurd awards on the world stage, even while insulting the host nation who is silly enough to honor him with such acclaim. President Obama refuses to see, what everyone else easily does, that his actions are damaging the future of millions of people, but his stubborn refusal to pivot may damage generations of descendants of those people. The federal spending (and borrowing limits) are breaking records under Obama even with one of his wars drawing down. Yet he wishes to punitively hurt energy companies, prevent the discovery of new sources, and forcibly change behavior of millions of people while taxing them record rates--over an issue that has been cited as non-existent by those who had originally put the ideas forward. Recently those experts even admitted so in e-mails to each other.
And while his numbers are falling, and he has slid into a tie with current Republican front-runner Gov. Mike Huckabee, he has not yet suffered enough--nor sensed the suffering of the American people enough (just yet)--for him to take the serious steps that Tiger Woods is being forced to do.
Because of this, "We the People" feel very much like the wife who has been cheated on and even abused by neglect, dishonesty, lies, and trickery.
Posted by: ZOUK | December 14, 2009 12:33 PM | Report abuse
"Our gracious host DID address this "fact"...:
"Democrats now have 11 open seats (two are vacancies that will be filled by special elections). Of those districts, SEVEN are competitive. House Republicans currently have 12 retirements, THREE of which are regarded as highly competitive."
(Emphasis Added)"
That is not analysis. It is barely reporting. Also left unsaid are how these races will be impacted by the TEA people. Are these competitive districts still competitive when a super-conservative wins the GOP nomination?
This district, in particular, while labelled a 'swing district' by the Fix, has been held by a Democrat for all but 10 years since 1871 (according to Wikipedia). The guy that's held it for 25 years, and is now the oldest member of the TN delegation, is retiring.
Nameless Dem strategists say there's no trend, but merely several cases of extenuating circumstances. Names Repub sources say its a trend; yet apparently don't see a trend on the Repub side. The Fix purports to be an impartial observer & analyst. So I say: analyze. The Fix, if he does see a trend on the Dem side, should explain why he thinks its a trend, and whether the Repub retirements are also a trend; and why or why not.
Posted by: bsimon1 | December 14, 2009 12:33 PM | Report abuse
GOP retirements are not a "problem" in safe districts.
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 12:33 PM | Report abuse
When even people from Mississippi refer to you as ignorant hicks how much farther can you fall? "Lawd, they ain't no lower class than Tennessee trash."
Posted by: rodneythecat | December 14, 2009 12:30 PM | Report abuse
Seven seats won't make a difference, but those are just the retirements. Cook has many more "competitive" seats listed than just those seven.
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 12:28 PM | Report abuse
"It's official: Democrats now have a retirement problem," declared National Republican Congressional Committee communications director Ken Spain"
The only problem with this statement is that there are more Republican congressmen retiring or not seeking reelection than Democrat.
Republican 11
Democrat 9
Typical Republican logic.
You too Snow if liberalism is a sinking ship then the numbers look even worse for you.
Posted by: JRM2 | December 14, 2009 12:27 PM | Report abuse
Last week, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) sent out a recruitment call for "new Republicans," confirming that he sees "little use for a big-tent approach for his party." As South Carolina's The State put it, DeMint is setting himself up as a kingmaker, wading into national races to endorse far-right candidates.
And one of the issues about which DeMint feels very strongly is Social Security. In an interview with Bloomberg News' Al Hunt, DeMint blasted Social Security as "socialistic," and advocated reviving President George Bush's Social Security privatization scheme:
DeMint considers Social Security a "socialistic" measure and blasts the American Association of Retired Persons for promulgating "socialist solutions"…In the interview, he talks of reviving President George W. Bush's failed plan to partially privatize Social Security by having workers put a small percentage of the current levy in a personal savings account.
As CNN Money's Allan Sloan wrote back in January, "someday, Social Security privatization will come back into vogue. When that happens, I've got two words that will remind you why it's a bad idea: Remember 2008." It's quite shocking that we're not even through 2009 yet, and 2008, at least for DeMint, is already forgotten.
But let's review. As a Center for American Progress Action Fund report found, under a Bush-style privatization plan, a October 2008 retiree would have lost $26,000 in the market plunge. If the U.S. stock market had behaved like the Japanese market during the duration of that retiree's work life, "a private account would have experienced sharp negative returns, losing $70,000 — an effective -3.3 percent net annual rate of return." And this doesn't take into account the full plunge of the stock market, which dipped below 7,000 in March 2009.
As the Cunning Realist pointed out, failed investment banks Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers were both "blue chips, the sort of companies that proponents of private accounts insisted any new system would be limited to." Can you imagine the mess that would have occurred — and the leverage those companies would have held — had not only the financial system's health, but the retirement accounts of untold seniors, been tied up in them?
The Center for Economic and Policy Research found that, "as a result of the collapse of the housing bubble, the vast majority of baby boomers will be approaching retirement with little wealth outside of Social Security." Privatization opponents would have had seniors sacrifice that safety net as well.
Posted by: drindl | December 14, 2009 12:27 PM | Report abuse
I'm sorry Chris I think you're bringing a lot of hyperbole into this to make it a story rife with conflict. If you wade through your Sturm Und Drang of Political Apocalypso you discover that they are almost the same number of Democrat retirements as Republicans. Yes you state that seven are competitive for the Democrats while only two are for the Republicans. Could the simple logical reason be that the GOP is becoming an 'isolated regional party,' a phrase you media types were throwing around with such abandon until someone decided that it wasn't sexy enough or have enough conflict. Even with the Media deciding on the new storyline to be 1994 Redux it still doesn't tell a true story. Let's say those competitive seats all fall to the Republicans. With the huge majority the Democrats have in the House 7 seats is not going to have that big of effect. But of course that kind of reporting is not sexy or conflicty enough for you.
Posted by: dre7861 | December 14, 2009 12:25 PM | Report abuse
44% of Americans would prefer that the 22nd Amendment be repealed and GWB be back as President again ; )
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 12:24 PM | Report abuse
12 vs 11 isn't relevant
7 (competitive D seats) vs 3 (competitive R seats) is relevant. But go ahead, by all means, keep up the GOP bashing, and keep regurgitating the Obama-'Hope and Change' rhetoric because after Pelosi and Reid raise the debt ceiling another $2 trillion. The only 'change' you are going to see is 30-50 house seats and 5-8 senate seats.
Posted by: TexasProud1 | December 14, 2009 12:22 PM | Report abuse
I believe what a lot of people are missing here is that these people realize is that after they vote for the med bill they would not get re-elected anyway so they are not going to run but will still vote how they want to, not how their constituants want them to. full steam aherad and damn the torpedoes. vote the bill in before I leave and let the folks suffer
Posted by: robertbeaver | December 14, 2009 12:21 PM | Report abuse
I would prefer Palin-Limbaugh or even Palin-Bloomberg ; )
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 12:19 PM | Report abuse
Ah, the usual mouthfoaming from the usual suspects on this board.
These retirements may or may not mean a whole lot come this time next year. The bottom line is that there will likely be more Republicans in the House and Senate in 2011 than there are now. But overall control of both chambers probably won't switch, unless the Dems truly experience an apocalyptic catastrophe that doesn't seem to be in the cards.
But more Republicans, even if it's only 2-3 in the Senate and less than 20 in the House, will complicate passage of a decidedly left social agenda. That's why Dems are desperate to get healthcare done now. They know if it doesn't get done now, it'll automatically get punted for at least another 2 years due to political realities. If and when the Dems are ever able to get healthcare off their plate, the fate of other 'priorities' like climate change stuff, the new financial regulatory agency and the like will have to compete with Obama's Afghanistan proposal. The window of opportunity is closing, and the Dems know it. Republicans don't need a landslide in 2010 to muck up the works. They only need the kind of modest gains they look like they'll get.
Posted by: mbcnewspaper | December 14, 2009 12:16 PM | Report abuse
Oh yes, this is a clear indication that the GOP should run Palin for President!
Palin/Romney in 2012;
"mitts and tits!"
Posted by: Heerman532 | December 14, 2009 12:15 PM | Report abuse
59,934,814 Americans voted for Gov. Palin, knowing full well that a President McCain could have died the day he took office. I will admit, if she can't get at least that many votes again, she will have a hard time beating Obama. OTOH anything's possible in Presidential elections!
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 12:13 PM | Report abuse
What you (and Pew) are missing is that lots of conservative Republicans have registered INDEPENDENT over the past few years. As between Palin or Obama, who do you think they will be voting for?
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 12:10 PM | Report abuse
Like a Stone
John Steele Gordon - 12.13.2009 - 2:56 PM
Something interesting is going on. Jennifer this morning reported that Obama had reached a new low in the Rasmussen Daily Tracking Poll yesterday, at -16. The latest results, released a couple of hours ago, show the president at -19 a mere 24 hours later.
Not surprisingly, Obama's popularity began declining right after Inauguration Day, as the messy reality of actually governing replaced the warm glow of rhetoric. He was at +28 on January 21st but down to +10 a month later. He slipped into negative territory in June, when he was at -2 on June 21st. By November 21st, he was at -13.
But the last week was been brutal: -11 last Monday, -10 on Tuesday, -11 on Wednesday, -12 on Thursday and Friday, -16 on Saturday, -19 today.
Perhaps even worse for Obama has been the sharp decline in the number of those who strongly approve. That number dropped by 4 percentage points this week, from 27 percent to 23 percent, while the strongly disapproving increased an equal amount.
And the decline is across the board:
Just 41% of Democrats Strongly Approve while 69% of Republicans Strongly Disapprove. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 21% Strongly Approve and 49% Strongly Disapprove.
Polls, like markets, fluctuate on a daily basis. One day's or even one week's change doesn't amount to much. But the chart below sure looks like a political bear market to me. And in politics, that translates into a loss of power to persuade other politicians to go along. With public approval of the Senate Health Care bill at an all-time low (-32 in the latest CNN poll), it seems as though it will be increasingly difficult for the president to persuade all 60 Democrats and Independents in the Senate to walk that particular plank.
My guess is that if just one of the needed 60 senators were to announce that he or she would not vote for cloture this month, regardless of what Harry Reid comes up with in the next few days, ("I'm in favor of health-care reform, but we need to consider this more carefully" — translation: I like my job and want to keep it) others would quickly follow. That would push it into 2010 and, almost surely, into a richly deserved political oblivion.
Posted by: ZOUK | December 14, 2009 12:09 PM | Report abuse
P.S. did you ever see that "Donny Most" bit on The Family Guy? Comedy GOLD!!!
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 12:08 PM | Report abuse
A reminder for the goobers:
Only 19% of registered voters are now self-identified Republicans (down from 30% as recently as 2004).
Goobers simply do not have the votes to elect anyone on a national level.
Or the voters to overturn the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.
"What is clear is that the Republican Party is facing formidable demographic challenges. Its constituents are aging and do not reflect the growing ethnic and racial diversity of the general public. As was the case at the beginning of this decade, Republicans are predominantly non-Hispanic whites (88%). Among Democrats, the proportion of non-Hispanic whites has declined from 64% in 2000 to 56%, as Latinos and people from other racial backgrounds have joined the ranks of the Democrats. At the same time, the average age of Republicans increased from 45.5 to 48.3, while the average age of Democrats has remained fairly stable. For the first time in at least two decades, Republicans are older than Democrats on average. Republicans continue to be disproportionately comprised of Southerners (39%) and white evangelical Protestants (35%)."
"While the American public becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, the Republican Party continues to lag far behind in drawing support from minority groups. According to Census figures, the share of adults who are white, non-Hispanic has fallen from roughly 73% in 2000 to an estimated 68% in 2009, while minorities make up the other 32% of the nation's adults. Yet few of these minorities are drawn to the Republican Party. In 2009, 88% of Republicans are white, unchanged from 2000 and far above the national total." ~ Pew Research Center
Posted by: WhatHeSaid | December 14, 2009 12:08 PM | Report abuse
I want Palin over Obama, yes -- and there's no other public figure currently on the scene who can generate the turnout needed to boot him out -- a "dark horse" (no pun intended) won't be able to either. Worst case scenario, the GOP get to claim running the first woman candidate for President. Sometimes, you have to bet on the horses that are running, not the horses you wish were running.
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 12:06 PM | Report abuse
Is 12 not larger than 11 anymore?
Maybe that was the real goal of no-child left behind.
Posted by: AndyR3 | December 14, 2009 12:04 PM | Report abuse
Our gracious host DID address this "fact" (had you actually bothered to read the article you are commenting on):
"Democrats now have 11 open seats (two are vacancies that will be filled by special elections). Of those districts, SEVEN are competitive. House Republicans currently have 12 retirements, THREE of which are regarded as highly competitive."
(Emphasis Added)
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 12:02 PM | Report abuse
JakeD, with all due respect, you want Sarah Palin to be President? Do you believe that she is the best challenger that the GOP can field? Honestly curious. I actually think they will prop up a new face - one we have not yet heard from.
I've been wrong before, but I do not think Palin has a chance. Hey, its still 3 years away.
Posted by: free-donny | December 14, 2009 12:02 PM | Report abuse
Um, lets do the math: Dems have a 20 seat lead in the Senate...and what a 75 seat lead in the House. President Obama is not even one year into his first term. Is there any such thing as a "swing district" anymore?
Let's see the Dems just took away another house seat in NY last month. Smells like toast, and its the GOP thats in the toaster.
Posted by: free-donny | December 14, 2009 11:58 AM | Report abuse
Most of those Republicans had announced their retirement long ago (well before Obama started his approval-rating freefall ; )
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 11:57 AM | Report abuse
JohnHolder writes
"The Democrats have 11 retiring members and the Republicans have 12 (not only a larger number, but a larger percentage of their membership). So who's got a "retirement problem"?"
Given the relative sizes of their delegations, this is a fact the Fix should address.
Posted by: bsimon1 | December 14, 2009 11:43 AM | Report abuse
Obama giveth and....
Posted by: improvista | December 14, 2009 11:39 AM | Report abuse
My wife and I will be voting Republican next year to get Sen. Dodd (D-CT) out of office -- we would also vote Republican if Sarah Palin is running for President in 2012 - it has to do with "common sense" conservatism.
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 11:35 AM | Report abuse
Why would anyone vote Republican after 8 terrible years of Bush, Cheney, Tom DeLay and a long list of mean, ignorant politicians who only know (1) how to say no and (2) how to steal large sums of money. If the Dems don't get a spine, the Dem incumbents should be thrown out too. We could use a third party, but I don't see enough of you complainers seriously voting outside your comfort zones.
Posted by: sharonsj1 | December 14, 2009 11:31 AM | Report abuse
Conservative dreamers, your fantasies may not come true. You may ultimately get coal in your stocking.
The Party of No continues to slouch toward Washington, like the demonic beast it is.
Posted by: MikeK3 | December 14, 2009 11:30 AM | Report abuse
>>>>House Republicans currently have 12 retirements, three of which are regarded as highly competitive.
Now THAT's a retirement problem!!
Keep em coming, Repubs.....
Posted by: angie12106 | December 14, 2009 11:28 AM | Report abuse
As the Obama begins to circle the drain.
Posted by: carlbatey | December 14, 2009 11:28 AM | Report abuse
>>>>>>Democrats now have 11 open seats (two are vacancies that will be filled by special elections). Of those districts, seven are competitive. House Republicans currently have 12 retirements, three of which are regarded as highly competitive.
Repubs are running scared with 12 retirements!!!
They obviously don't want to face responsibility for the $1.3 TRILLION deficit they & Bush created with their tax cuts for the WEALTHY - and HUGE tax breaks for Corporations that moved jobs overseas.
Given the $1.3 TRILLION deficit that Obama inherited - he's doing a good job cleaning up Bush's MESS!
Posted by: angie12106 | December 14, 2009 11:26 AM | Report abuse
The Democrats have 11 retiring members and the Republicans have 12 (not only a larger number, but a larger percentage of their membership). So who's got a "retirement problem"?
Posted by: JohnHolder | December 14, 2009 11:26 AM | Report abuse
As Ron Motta asked on the Facebook feed: Is it officially a trend yet?
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 11:20 AM | Report abuse
CYA Loser!
Posted by: ItsOver2 | December 14, 2009 11:16 AM | Report abuse
Posted by: JakeD | December 14, 2009 11:13 AM | Report abuse
One less worker, on the pinko-brick road too Marxism.
Posted by: dashriprock | December 14, 2009 11:12 AM | Report abuse
lets have special elections now and show the dems what lays in store for them in 2010...
if it's anything like tenn., so long dems...
Hasta la Vista baby...
it can't happen fast enough...
Posted by: DwightCollins | December 14, 2009 11:11 AM | Report abuse
"It's official: Democrats now have a retirement problem," declared National Republican Congressional Committee communications director Ken Spain"
Yes, this person is certain to be unbiased in his opinion.
Posted by: drindl | December 14, 2009 11:10 AM | Report abuse
These are "blue dogs" who would rather retire than fight for their white supremacy ideals...
Posted by: demtse | December 14, 2009 11:06 AM | Report abuse
When the going gets tough the "tough" get going?
Posted by: njtou | December 14, 2009 11:01 AM | Report abuse
Another rat leaps from the sinking ship that is liberalism.
Posted by: snowbama | December 14, 2009 11:00 AM | Report abuse
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