2010 United States Budget

The transparency of this administration as well as the previous few is exemplary. For the first time, all of the visitors that step into the White House are recorded on the White House Website.
Recently, the new budget for the upcoming Fiscal Year was published. Needless to say, one needs a degree in Economics to make sense of the daunting number of figures posted as debits and credits. I do think it interesting to go through the document and read the Highlights before each of the Department Budgets. I have included the Highlights for Energy, Education, and Defense. As one looks through these figures, compare the hundreds of billions of dollars that the Department of Defense is allocated to the tens of billions that Energy and Education receive. It's not hard to understand why such a large deficit is being accrued with two wars going on simultaneously.

Funding Highlights for Department of Energy:
• Supports high-risk, high-payoff transformational research and development projects with $300 million for the recently established Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E).
• Supports and encourages the early commercial deployment of innovative energy technologies with an additional $36 billion in guaranteed loan volume authority for advanced nuclear power plants and an additional $500 million in credit subsidy to support $3 to $5 billion in loan guarantees for innovative energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.
• Provides a 4.6 percent, or $226 million, increase in funding at the Office of Science for basic research and world-leading laboratories to support transformational scientific discoveries and accelerate solutions to our Nation’s most pressing challenges.
• Invests $2.3 billion in applied energy research and development to position the United States as the world leader in energy technology that will address climate change, develop new industries, and create new jobs.

Funding Highlights for Department of Defense:
• Provides $548.9 billion for the Department of Defense base budget in 2011, a 3.4 percent increase over the 2010 enacted level.
• Includes $33.0 billion for a 2010 supplemental request and $159.3 billion for 2011 to support ongoing overseas contingency operations, including funds to execute the President’s new strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
• Maintains ready forces and continues efforts to rebalance military forces to focus more on today’s wars, and provides capabilities to deter or if necessary engage in future conflicts.
• Continues strong support for our men and women in uniform through a robust benefits package including pay increases that keep pace with the private sector.
• Supports access to medical care to the more than 9.5 million beneficiaries: active military members and their families, military retirees and their families, dependent survivors, and eligible Reserve Component members and families.
• Supports wounded warrior transition units and centers of excellence in vision, hearing, traumatic brain injury, and other areas to continuously improve the care provided to wounded, ill, and injured servicemembers.
• Continues to reform defense acquisition, reducing its use of high-risk contracts related to time-and-materials and labor-hours by 17 percent through the end of 2011, while modernizing key weapons systems to provide our troops with the best technology to meet battlefield needs, and eliminating or reconfiguring lower-priority acquisitions.
• Prioritizes resources by ending or reducing several programs, including the C-17 aircraft, the Joint Strike Fighter Alternate Engine program, the Third Generation Infrared Surveillance program, and the Net-Enabled Command Capability program.
• Supports a reconfigured ballistic missile defense strategy, in line with the President’s policy, to better address current threats.
• Accelerates the transition to a low-carbon economy through support of development and deployment of clean energy technologies such as solar, biomass, geothermal, wind, nuclear, and low-carbon emission coal power.
• Reduces security risks through major increases in funding for the detection, elimination, and securing of nuclear material and radiological sources worldwide and the maintenance of a safe, secure, and effective nuclear weapons stockpile.
• Continues the Nation’s efforts to reduce environmental risks and safely manage nuclear materials.

Funding Highlights for Department of Education:
• Provides a $3 billion increase in K-12 education programs, plus up to $1 billion in additional funding if Congress successfully completes a fundamental overhaul of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Together, these measures would represent the largest funding increase for ESEA programs ever requested.
• Supports needed reforms of Federal K-12 programs to promote college- and career- readiness, enhance teacher and principal effectiveness, deliver a rigorous and complete education, improve educational options, and prepare our children for the jobs of the future.
• Provides $1.35 billion to expand Race to the Top for school districts as well as States to carry out systemic reform, and $500 million to continue the Investing in Innovation program to test, validate, and scales up effective approaches to student learning.
• Increases the number, and improves the distribution of, effective teachers and principals, by investing $950 million in competitive grants to States and school districts that build comprehensive systems to recruit, prepare, retain, and reward effective teachers and principals.
• Invests $210 million in Promise Neighborhoods, an initiative that integrates school reform with strong family supports and effective community services across an entire neighborhood, so that youth successfully complete high school and continue on to college.
• Expands educational options and increases access to high-quality schools by investing $490 million to grow effective charter schools and other effective, autonomous public schools that achieve results, develop new approaches, and give parents more choices.
• Consolidates 38 K-12 programs into 11 new programs that emphasize competitive funding, accountability for outcomes and flexibility in approaches, and use of evidence to get results.
• Supports the next generation of scientists and engineers by helping States develop and implement math and science instructional practices that are aligned to rigorous college- and career-ready standards and by supporting districts and nonprofit organizations that develop, implement, and evaluate promising and effective programs.
• Increases aid for needy students, reforms Federal student aid programs, and simplifies the financial aid application process.
• Funds new reforms across the Nation’s early learning programs for children birth through age five, so they’re prepared to enter kindergarten ready for success.
• Creates a Workforce Innovation Partnership with the Department of Labor to test and validate effective strategies to improve services under the Workforce Investment Act.

Note: All of the information above is taken directly from the Budget and the Source for all above-stated information is Budget of the United States Government

Please watch this immediately!

http://www.eatmedaily.com/2009/02/conan-visits-a-vineyard-in-napa-valley-classic-late-night-with-conan-obrien-video/

Conan O'Brian's last episode

So this video is being posted for two reasons:
1) It's absolutely hilarious and amazingly sincere
2) His comment about disliking cynicism over anything else in the world is something that should be echoed across the world.

What if there was no "Rush" to guide the GOP?

In no way is this blog post a secret hope or desire for the demise of any human being; however, it is speculative based on the hypothetic demise of a human being: Rush Limbaugh. As a sidenote before this entry begins, it should be known also that after the demise of any strong, powerful leader not much really changes. Someone else steps into his/her place, usually doing a better job than their predecesor.
The BBC just posted that Mr. Limbaugh was taken to the hospital in Hawaii recently. What would happen if the millions of people that listen to his Extreme Right Talk Show everyday were to not be able to listen any more? What would happen if the de facto voice of the Grand Ol' Party were to not be around any more?
Would Glenn Beck take his place? Do they both rule the same political kingdom?
There is something deeper here and it is the age-old extreme right vs. extreme left debate, a debate that never really has been and never really will be a debate for the simple reason that it lacks basic verities that guide a true debate. People seeking a balanced vision should read the BBC News or CS Monitor as well as listen to both Beck and Limbaugh as well as Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann. The balance that comes from a distillation of these sources of news/politics/entertainment should give the average thinking person a well-grounded point of view on any one issue. I cannot help, though, but wonder how the more left-leaning and right-leaning news sources contort truth so masterfully well?! Pretty well done, I might say.
(Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8435727.stm)

Virginia and North Carolina Ignorance

Some unbelievable results came out of a recent poll taken by the Public Policy Polling, a non-partisan polling group based in Raleigh, N.C. The Washington Post and Newsobserver.com both covered the poll shedding light on some numbers that some might find shocking.

The lie:

A poll done in Virginia showed that "of 579 likely voters queried between July 31 and Aug. 3, showed that 74 percent of those people who identified themselves as Democrats thought Mr. Obama was born in the United States, while 41 percent of those who said they did not think he was born in the United States were Republicans." -Source: Washington Times

A poll done in North Carolina showed that "Barely half of N.C. voters believe President Obama was born in the United States, according to a poll released Tuesday. Public Policy Polling surveyed 749 North Carolina voters Aug. 4-10, and found that 54 percent believe that Obama was born in the United States. Twenty-six percent of those surveyed said they do not believe Obama was born in the U.S., and 20 percent said they were not sure. The survey found that only 24 percent of Republican voters in North Carolina believe Obama was born in the U.S." Source- NewsObserver.com

The truth:

President Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961 at the Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, to Stanley Ann Dunham, an American of mainly English descent from Wichita, Kansas, and Barack Obama, Sr., a Luo from Nyang’oma Kogelo, Nyanza Province, Kenya. Source- Wikipedia.org and Biography.com and Biography.com Video and WhiteHouse.gov

Let's spread the truth and not lies. Do your part.

"A Debate"- We can do better

From the Dictionary on my MacBookPro the word "debate" is defined as follows:

debate |diˈbāt|
noun
a formal discussion on a particular topic in a public meeting or legislative assembly, in which opposing arguments are put forward.
• an argument about a particular subject, esp. one in which many people are involved : the national debate on abortion | there has been much debate about prices.
verb [ trans. ]
argue about (a subject), esp. in a formal manner : the board debated his proposal | the date when people first entered America is hotly debated.
• [with clause ] consider a possible course of action in one's mind before reaching a decision : he debated whether he should leave the matter alone or speak to her.

The word "formal" is essential here in order for a debate to be properly called a debate, (if this definition is the one being used). I have been watching the amount of informalities and uncourteous and outright rude people standing up at these "meetings" and proposing their ideas. I have seen proper debates and do not remember any yelling. I do not remember any violent behavior. I do not remember the other side making T-shirts and signs with the opponent's face contorted to resemble Adolf Hitler. Let's do a little better.

You may be wondering why I am posting a definition of debate at this juncture of time; the reason is wrapped around our country's current "health care debate".

It has been quite eye opening how much people are fighting this reform bill. Personally, I am quite excited that people are coming out and questioning what is being proposed. What I am not excited about is the lack of "true debate." The false allegations-- euthanasia, death panels, having the government choose your health care/doctor for you, and the list goes on and on--are jaw dropping to anyone who is not being fed fear-based lies.

For anyone who is looking for an article that enumerates what this bill is really about, see Robert Pear's recent article from the 10th of August found in the New York Times. (There are some that discredit the NYTimes automatically due to the growing allegedly-biased reporting going on; however, this article has been referenced by many critics as a solid and unbiased perusal and explanation of the plan the Obama Administration is presenting). Click here to link to the article.

Another thing that is quite eye opening is the amount of people that are being fed overly-nationalistic lies from the FAR right. You just have to listen to this guy for a little while to realize this. Click here for Glenn Beck's argument against Obama.

Anyone looking for a wonderful "Special Comment" about the Health Care Debate, please tune into the following video.


From Republicans to "Blue Dog Democrats", this is a great argument against our "leaders" serving the corporations and not the people.

Ok, enough said. Enjoy and keep on questioning.

Must needed diplomacy at its best!

President Obama speaks in Cairo, Egypt, June 4, 2009.

Please watch this and comment as you see fit.