Last month I criticized Congressman Norm Dicks for not holding a town hall meeting on health care. Since then the congressman has changed his mind, and I applaud him for facing his constituents, although I think he was uncomfortable and not well prepared. But try as they might, attendees in the noisy crowd couldn’t paint the bulldog Dicks into a corner on any of HR 3200’s controversial sections.
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Category Archives: Current Events
No Painting Congressman Dicks into a Corner on Health Care
Posted in Current Events, Government
Have You Gone Overboard on News/Talk Radio?
I have spent most of the summer on Treasure Island and have been keeping up with current events by listening to news/talk radio. That’s because the TV no longer works since we haven’t gone digital, we don’t take a newspaper, and there’s no computer. According to the Center for American Progress web site, I’m not alone when it comes to tuning in to news/talk radio. They estimate the weekly audience at 50 million, supporting 1700 commercial stations nationwide. Clearly the format is popular. Lately, however, I have been wondering if I and others have gone overboard in our allegiance to this mostly conservative medium. To answer that question, I devised a test.
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Posted in Current Events
No Town Halls Near Here
You cannot turn on talk show radio these days without hearing endless and repetitive opinions about the congressional town hall meetings on health care. Conservative hosts are framing the issue as one in which some members of Congress are refusing to listen to the public before passing a bill that literally affects life and death for all Americans. Liberal hosts point out that the status quo is unacceptable, a lot of misinformation is being spread, and the current bills need some work but are the best approach to comprehensive health-care reform. To get some first-hand information on these opposing views, I contacted my congressional representatives about attending a local town hall meeting.
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Posted in Current Events, Government
That Was Fast
Good Old Government Cash
According to several news reports, the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), better known as “cash for clunkers,” was suspended yesterday, a casualty of its overwhelming popularity. Apparently bean counters need to verify whether the billion-dollar pot of government largesse is already empty. Meanwhile Congress is scrambling to add additional money to keep this stimulus vehicle running. It was obvious that anyone who wanted to participate shouldn’t delay too long because the program, as initially funded, was bound to run out of money well before its expiration period. But one week? The above photo of the reader board at Parr Ford, a Bremerton new-car dealer, helps explain what prompted some local residents to jump onboard.
Posted in Cars, Current Events, Government
Slashing Health Care by 40 Percent
With Congress debating President Obama’s health-care proposals this week, media coverage is extensive. I have a proposal that will reduce the amount of hot air, save on printing costs, and eventually lessen the budget burden Congress’s bill is going to cause. Instead of using health care (10 letters) to refer to this medical and financial train wreck, let’s switch the discussion to talking about health. In so doing we will save 4 letters or 40 percent.
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Posted in Current Events
A Connection to Trails End Lake
A horrific crime that occurred in late February at Trails End Lake in Mason County has a connection to Mud Bay. The story received extensive coverage in the Kitsap Sun and on Seattle TV stations. To summarize, a 46-year-old man beat a woman severely in her home with a chair and cane. Although she was bound with duct tape and bloody, she managed to escape and run to a neighbor’s house. The neighbors called 911 and sheltered the woman until sheriff’s deputies and medics arrived. Her injuries were serious enough to require an airlift to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The Kitsap Sun described the neighbors, the Goldbergs, as true heroes for opening their home to the woman so she could escape her attacker. The man returned to her home, where he died in a fire he set after a standoff with a sheriff’s SWAT team.
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Posted in Current Events, Mud Bay & Rocky Point
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