Via Gateway Pundit:
Section 2531, entitled “Medical Liability Alternatives,” establishes an incentive program for states to adopt and implement alternatives to medical liability litigation. [But]…… a state is not eligible for the incentive payments if that state puts a law on the books that limits attorneys’ fees or imposes caps on damages.
This entire bill is an abomination. The more I learn, the angrier I get.
This made my day.
Alan Grayson’s recent self indulgent behavior has paralyzed his ability to serve as an advocate for the citizens of Central Florida. On December 16th 2009, the day on which the Sons of Liberty dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor, Central Floridians will again say no to the overreaching government intrusion propagated by Grayson. Central Floridians will drop a money bomb to show Grayson and Pelosi that an oppressive, overreaching government has not and never will be what makes America great.
Pledge your support today, so that we may deliver our message to all the voters of Central Florida.
Central Floridians formed My Congressman Is Nuts PAC as a response to the outrage and embarrassment within Central Florida over Alan Grayson’s liberal positions and childish approach in Washington, D.C. We could no longer sit by and accept his inappropriate behavior and leftist big government agenda. He does not represent the values of Central Florida.Please feel free to follow the link and view our paperwork on file with the FEC. We are a real organization made of real citizens who are committed to holding “Outrageous Alan” accountable.Undoubtedly, we will be attacked for standing up to this bully, but the future of Central Florida is too important. Please stand tall and join us because our Congressman is NUTS!
The website states that they have already raised $3,335 in donations.
You don’t say.
WASHINGTON (AP) – An early progress report on President Barack Obama’s economic recovery plan overstates by thousands the number of jobs created or saved through the stimulus program, a mistake that White House officials promise will be corrected in future reports.
The government’s first accounting of jobs tied to the $787 billion stimulus program claimed more than 30,000 positions paid for with recovery money. But that figure is overstated by least 5,000 jobs, according to an Associated Press review of a sample of stimulus contracts.
The AP review found some counts were more than 10 times as high as the actual number of jobs; some jobs credited to the stimulus program were counted two and sometimes more than four times; and other jobs were credited to stimulus spending when none was produced.
For example:
_ A company working with the Federal Communications Commission reported that stimulus money paid for 4,231 jobs, when about 1,000 were produced.
_ A Georgia community college reported creating 280 jobs with recovery money, but none was created from stimulus spending.
_ A Florida child care center said its stimulus money saved 129 jobs but used the money on raises for existing employees.
There’s no evidence the White House sought to inflate job numbers in the report. But administration officials seized on the 30,000 figure as evidence that the stimulus program was on its way toward fulfilling the president’s promise of creating or saving 3.5 million jobs by the end of next year.
The reporting problem could be magnified Friday when a much larger round of reports is expected to show hundreds of thousands of jobs repairing public housing, building schools, repaving highways and keeping teachers on local payrolls.
The White House says it is aware there are problems. In an interview, Ed DeSeve, an Obama adviser helping to oversee the stimulus program, said agencies have been working with businesses that received the money to correct mistakes. Other errors discovered by the public also will be corrected, he said.
“If there’s an error that was made, let’s get it fixed,” DeSeve said.
The White House released a statement early Thursday that it said laid out the “real facts” about how jobs were counted in the stimulus data distributed two weeks ago. It said that had been a test run of a small subset of data that had been subjected only to three days of reviews, that it had already corrected “virtually all” the mistakes identified by the AP and that the discovery of mistakes “does not provide a statistically significant indication of the quality of the full reporting that will come on Friday.”
The data partially reviewed by the AP for errors included all the data presently available, representing all known federal contracts awarded to businesses under the stimulus program. The figures being released Friday include different categories of stimulus spending by state governments, housing authorities, nonprofit groups and other organizations.
As of early Thursday, on its recovery.org Web site, the government was still citing 30,383 as the actual number of jobs linked so far to stimulus spending, despite the mistakes the White House has now acknowledged and said were being corrected.
It’s not clear just how far off the 30,000 claim was. The AP’s review was not an exhaustive accounting of all 9,000 contracts, but homed in on the most obvious cases where there were indications of duplications or misinterpretations. Keep reading.
Fuzzy math.
Via the Boston Herald
Meet Amy Derjue, Communications Director for Boston City Council President, Michael Ross. She takes in $39,000 a year while Twittering and updating her Facebook status with profound statements such as:
“Amy Derjue is going to sit in the Council meeting and nap,”
“Somebody bring me a hot coffee and fluffy sweater, please,”
“20 minutes and I am OUT. Gone. No longer present. Do not contact unless you want to drink, shop, or watch sporting events.”
Or my favorite:
“Look at the uterus. It is so cute.”
Bored Boston government workers are goofing off on Facebook and other popular social networking sites on taxpayer time, boasting of napping during meetings, playing “Mafia Wars,” creating anagrams of their names and planning Halloween costumes.
The poster girl for the on-the-clock cyber-slacking is Amy Derjue, who earns $39,000 a year as Boston City Council President Michael Ross’ communications director.
The former Boston magazine blogger regularly updates her personal status on Facebook and Twitter throughout the work day, brazenly joking to her online pals about snoozing at a hearing, writing snarky comments about the reality TV show “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” opining on an article about Boston being one of the best cities to meet guys and babbling about her Halloween wig.
“Amy Derjue is going to sit in the Council meeting and nap,” she wrote on Facebook at 11:49 a.m. last Wednesday. The next day, she spent the morning complaining about her chilly City Hall cubicle on Twitter. “Somebody bring me a hot coffee and fluffy sweater, please,” she wrote at 9:32 a.m.
Another workday posting was a link to a cartoon “menstrual flow chart,” to which she commented, “Look at the uterus. It is so cute.” And she was apparently eager to punch out that day, writing at 4:40 p.m.: “20 minutes and I am OUT. Gone. No longer present. Do not contact unless you want to drink, shop, or watch sporting events.”
Other Facebook junkies include:
• Mac Daniel, the $93,000-a-year communications director of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, posted an item on Facebook during one apparently lazy summer workday that showed his name as an anagram for “I’m a candle.” Other workday musings included a YouTube video of comedian Louis C.K. and rants about the World Series and GOP Rep. Joe Wilson – who famously shouted “You lie” to President Obama during a speech.
• City Councilor John Tobin’s $71,000-a-year administrative assistant David Isberg plays a Web-based game called “Mafia Wars” almost daily on Facebook during regular work hours.
• Johanna Sena, a $49,000-a-year community liaison for Ross, bantered with Derjue on Facebook about prescription drugs and coffee one recent morning, and their cold office another day. “I say we plot to steal (co-worker) Julie’s portable heater,” Sena typed to Derjue.
Dot Joyce, spokeswoman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino, said city computers and equipment are for work purposes only.
Ross said one of the reasons he hired Derjue was to “broaden” his social networking and develop a personality for his office.
“I like what Amy’s doing,” said Ross, adding he encourages Derjue to use Facebook and Twitter to spread his message to constituents. “It’s not so that she’s fritting away her time. . . . She doesn’t have time to waste.”
Tobin defended Isberg’s Facebook usage, saying his staff doesn’t work a “typical 9-to-5 day.”
“The thing I’m most upset about is all this time playing ‘Mafia Wars’ and he hasn’t come close to the top 10 in scoring,” Tobin cracked.
Daniel, meanwhile, said MCCA policy allows for some personal usage but acknowledged, “In general, technology should be used for MCCA-related business.”
Some employees also may be violating laws that bar public employees from engaging in politics on the job. Isberg, for example, posted an ad for a Mike Capuano for Senate campaign event in West Roxbury Thursday afternoon.
Oh, to be a Hack.
Perhaps the Beautiful People of Marblehead would prefer a Che flag? This isn’t surprising given that in recent years another Massachusetts town was involved in a similar display of anti-Americanism.
Hat tip: Vagabond Trader
Fox 25 – Via Weasel Zippers.
MARBLEHEAD (FOX25, myfoxboston) – The owner of Gravity Fitness in Marblehead says gym members have complained about the American flag hanging inside the gym.
The Fitness club’s owner, 23 year-old Mark Shay, hung the 12 foot long flag from the gym rafters on Friday and had over a dozen complaints by Monday.
Some have complained that the flag blocks gym televisions, while some members have gone as far as to say that the flag is offensive.
One members was quoted to say “It’s like putting a Jesus cross in my face.”
Another member feels the exact opposite and said “This is America. If you don’t like to see the flag you can move somewhere else.”
Shay did move the flag so it would not block the TVs but said now the flag is going to stay right where it is. He also said if the complaining members decide to leave the gym he will just have to live with that.
Marblehead is one town over from where I live. Maybe I’ll join this gym to show my support for Mr. Shay. I’ll wear my lucky W’04 t-shirt to really drive the moonbats nuts. Any other ideas for t-shirts? This could be a lot of fun. BWAAAHAHAHA.
William McGurn explores Bammy’s incessant Bush Bashing and finger-pointing in a WSJ op/ed today.
Nine months after Barack Obama entered the Oval Office, his most adamant critics must concede he’s delivered on “change.” And we see it in our first post-gracious presidency.
The most visible manifestations of the new ungraciousness are the repeated digs the president and his senior staffers continue to make against George W. Bush. Recently, the administration has given us two fresh examples. The first is about Afghanistan, the other about the economy.
On Afghanistan, Mr. Obama’s chief of staff went on CNN’s “State of the Union” earlier this month to discuss the presidential decision on Afghanistan that everyone is waiting for. “It’s clear that basically we had a war for eight years that was going on, that’s adrift,” said Rahm Emanuel. “That we’re beginning at scratch, and just from the starting point, after eight years.” Translation: If we screw up Afghanistan, blame Mr. Bush.
The other came from Mr. Obama himself, speaking at various Democratic fund-raisers last week. “I don’t mind cleaning up the mess that some other folks made,” the president said. “That’s what I signed up to do. But while I’m there mopping the floor, I don’t want somebody standing there saying, ‘You’re not mopping fast enough.'”
This is a frequent Obama complaint. The logic is clear if curious: While it’s OK to blame Mr. Bush for spending too much, it’s not OK to point out that Mr. Obama is already well on track to spend much more.
Far from one-off asides, Mr. Obama’s jabs at his predecessor have been a common feature of his speeches, fund-raisers and the like. They seem especially to pop up whenever Mr. Obama discovers some decision he must make is not as easy as he’d thought. And they date back to the first moments of his presidency.
After a perfunctory thank you to Mr. Bush, a newly sworn-in President Obama declared that Americans had gathered for his inaugural “because we have chosen hope over fear,” that his administration would “restore science to its rightful place,” and that he would never allow America to “give [our ideals] up for expedience’s sake.” In other words, President Bush had chosen fear over hope, was being “expedient” rather than defending the nation, and had chosen religious fundamentalism over science when making decisions in areas such as embryonic stem-cell research.
I recommend a full read.
Oh and she traveled, but won’t say where to….and she grew up during Vietnam. Well, I’m convinced.
Rivals blasted the strange foreign policy credentials offered by Attorney General Martha Coakley yesterday after the U.S. Senate candidate – in an answer reminiscent of former vice presidential contender Sarah Palin – counted her sister’s overseas home as part of her own international know-how.
“To think having a sister who lives overseas gives you experience is naive at the very best,” said state Sen. Scott Brown, a Republican candidate in the U.S. Senate race. “Do I have the best foreign policy experience? No, but I’m always eager to learn and I certainly have more than having a relative who lives there.”
Coakley made the blunder in response to a question about her lack of international experience and her travels abroad during an interview on WCVB’s Channel 5’s “On the Record” program yesterday.
“I have a sister who lives overseas, and she’s been in England and now lives in the Middle East,” Coakley said, adding she has traveled but declining to say where.
Video here. Start at 2:00 to hear Coakley talk up her “credentials” and get in a little Bush bashing to kiss up to the Moonbat base here in Mass.
Hmmm. The buzz on the Sunday news shows was that the “trigger” plan was the direction that Reid was heading, but today he announced that a public option with an “opt out” provision for states will be included in the Senate version of the bill.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday that a version of government-backed health insurance that allows states to opt out will be included in the health care reform bill he plans to bring to the Senate floor.
The compromise measure was one of a host of different so-called public options being considered in the Senate. Though the public option seemed off the table in the chamber just one month ago, it gained traction in recent weeks as Democratic leaders floated measures meant to be more appealing to party moderates.
The “opt out” proposal would set up a national insurance plan with government seed money and be run by a private, not-for-profit board. Under the proposal, states would have to prove they can provide comparable coverage in order to exit out of the federal plan. The plan would also negotiate rates with providers just like private insurance companies do, presumably keeping premiums on a level playing field with the private industry.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pushing a more robust version of the public plan, which would be based on Medicare rates and in turn provide for cheaper premiums. Pelosi reportedly does not yet have the votes in her caucus to pass that version.
From what I understand – and since there has all taken place behind closed doors contrary to Bammy’s promise – states wouldn’t be able to exercise their “opt out” right for four years after the bill goes into effect.
The big questions now are: Will this be good enough for the Progressives? Will it be too much for the Blue Dogs? Will Olympia Snowe be the spoiler?
Update: More humor from Jumping in Pools in response to a Lizard attack on an autistic young man. Stay classy, Cato and Co.
BITE ME! Comics is back.
Barry breezed into town yesterday to talk climate change at MIT and attend a fundraiser for his pal, Cadillac Deval Patrick.
It was a helluva lot different than the last time The One came to Boston during the presidential campaign. Last year he was greeted by thousands of cheering fans. Yesterday, he was greeted by protesters – including some from his own party.
Then, during his climate change speech at MIT, the TOTUS failed the POTUS .
Later, he attended a fundraiser for Governor Deval Patrick and spoke to less than capacity crowds.
“There really should be no doubt that this guy gets a second term. But let’s be honest. This is going to be a tough race,” Obama told a room barely half-full with 125 deep-pocketed Democrats who ponied up $6,000 for Patrick and the party. “Re-election is not a foregone conclusion because times are tough.”
Reflecting those hard times, the swanky Westin Copley Place ballroom – where the subsequent $500-a-head fund-raiser was held – was “about two-thirds full,” with about 400 people attending, according to press pool reports.
Bloom off the rose.
SPITFIRE MURPHY 