The Passing of the Liberal Lion...

Senator Ted Kennedy was the end of a legacy and an era. He was the last surviving Kennedy brother and referred to the "Liberal Lion", a title that fit him well. He was a champion for education, health care, civil rights and pro-union. He took on the role as the family patriarch after the deaths of his brothers, Robert and Jack, a role that he stepped into without an ceremony.
Public service was second nature to the Kennedy family. Eunice Kennedy Shriver who founded the Special Olympics in 1962, she preceded him in death by two weeks. The only surviving child of Rose and Joseph Kennedy is Jean Kennedy Smith, 81. She has lead a private life in recent years.
His family was always shrouded in controversy and scandal and he had his share during his life on this earth. His strengths and accomplishments in the Senate have always stood to overshadow the scandals in his life. Senator Kennedy ran for President in 1976 and 1980. It seems that becoming President like his brother, Jack was not in the cards for him. The ghosts of Chappaquiddick and Mary Jo Kopechne came back to haunt him. Political opponents used the scandal for fodder in campaign mud-slinging tactics.
He was diagnosed with a brain tumor back in May 2008 but he didn't let it stop him from campaigning for Barack Obama.. Like Kennedy, Obama had health care reform at the top of his agenda. The Senator made it a cause that he championed and fought for decades trying to reform this country's seriously flawed health care system.
In spite of his flaws, Senator Ted Kennedy accomplished much in his life and did so much for this country. He's leaving a legacy for the next generation of lawmakers to carry on.. I hope that President Obama will carry on the legacy to fight for health care reform. Many Americans are hoping that just because of Ted Kennedy's death, it will not mean the death of health care reform in this country.

This Year's Political Rat Race....

This year's election for Mayor, City Comptroller, Borough President and a few other well-publicized political races are heating up. The Primary is September 15, which is just around the corner. The Democratic Candidates' debate was held last week on NY1. In case you've been living in complete seclusion without any television or newspapers, the Democratic hopefuls for Mayor are Queens councilman, Tony Avella and New York City Comptroller, William C. Thompson. As of yet, Thompson is leading Avella in the polls. ( FYI-Thompson was the President of the former Board of Education under Rudy Giuliani.
The big controversy of all this year, was the overturning of term limits. It has infuriated many voters when Mayor Mike Bloomberg used his clout (aka money) to overturn the law. Term limits were voted to stop politicians from abusing their positions of power, especially the cronyism and nepotism that comes with being in political office.
I think with this year's election, more voters are fed up with Bloomberg, the layoffs, the budget cuts and the constant presence of his campaign commercials. He pretty much used his money to buy his way into office. Why was it after 9-11, the people of New York City wanted Giuliani to run again for Mayor but he could not do it "because of term limits". No exceptions could be made, not even for "America's Mayor". So...why are they being made for Emperor Mike? What did he do that was so great for our fair city to warrant him getting a special pass to run for a third term?
The people of New York need to get out and vote. We have a political voice to speak out and can use it at the polls. Your vote does matter and most of all it will this election.
More About: political · THE 2009 NYC ELECTION · MAYORAL RACE

Life is unscripted...

Life is unscripted. No re-dos or do-overs. We all wish we could hit rewind like on a dvd or vcs and change the things in our lives such as bad marriages/relationships or other mistakes we made. Poor choices seem to be our lessons in life and experiences that make us wiser. For those of us who watch reality shows wonder if the stuff that happens on these shows is unscripted, impulsive and impromptu...makes you wonder. Or is it the producers and writers acting as puppeteers, pulling the strings of the puppets/the members of the casts of these shows to boost the ratings?
There would not be a demand for these shows if the creators and powers that be at the networks did not keep cranking them out like an assembly line. Hence, supply and demand. This brings back memories of consumer education class my junior year in high school and my first lesson about capitalism in the United States.
At times most of us wish we could hit rewind, especially when it comes to things like the 2000 Presidential Election. If we could change things, Bush would not have been elected president. What's the old adage...would have, could have, should have? I'm sure there are millions of people saying that after eight years of Dubya. Too bad the American people couldn't pop a Xanax or two and click our heels together like Dorothy in the "Wizard of Oz", saying "there's no place like home, there's not place like home." Well Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore.

Universal Healthcare for all....

The government should not abandon the health care reform just yet. Leave it to the Conservatives to keep shooting it down. This is all in hopes of letting it die out and hopefully the American people will forget about it. They seems to think that all Americans have the attention span of a pissant. Uninsured people, especially children are a painful reminder that our country's healthcare system is in crisis. When people have to choose whether to put food on the table, pay rent, etc. over going to the doctor when sick and buying medication-it's a healthcare crisis. Why should we trust the government to remedy the healthcare/insurance industry in this country when they can't effectively run the United States Postal Service. I was convinced long ago that the government is in the pocket of the pharmacutical and insurance companies, as well as the Food and Drug Administration. Obama should keep on fighting for universal healthcare. The first people to have a crack at it should be all the uninsured. The insurance companies feel threatened by the fact that the government will have control over their operations and they should be.

Obama is scrapping the plans for universal healthcare....

The Associated Press is reporting that President Obama is scrapping the plans for universal healthcare. Obama backs away from public health insurance plan - SILive.com It seems after much opposition from the Conservatives, he's considering an alternative plan. This would be some kind of government-run insurance plan for the uninsured. It's been noted that there is too much competition among the insurance companies. Under the original plan to overhaul the nation's healthcare system, there was talk of raising taxes to fund it. While on August Recess, both parties are trying to find some alternatives and concessions to the healthcare reform plan. It doesn't seem like a far cry from the original idea but there would be more planning and consideration put into this revamping of the plan. Right now, our country needs to take care of those who are uninsured and underinsured. These are the ones who are in greater need of healthcare.

What's next for Mark Sanford..?

After returning from a two-week vacation meant to "rekindle the flame" in his already broken down marriage, the missus moves out of their marital home. My opinion in all of this, it was all done for sake of appearances. This man went public with his feelings about the other woman, calling her his "soulmate" and humiliating his wife and children. What gives with Republicans and their sex scandals. Seems to me they are always thinking with the wrong head and it's not the head between their shoulders, more like the one between their legs. It's a beautiful thing to have a secret double life, banging the mistress/girlfriend/secret wife on the side while having the American Dream. The wife, family, position of power, a trusted (and elected) public official all the while sneaking around clandestinely. Of course, divorce isn't even an opinion-can't forget Republican family values. My guess the missus is planning on kicking his ass to the curb with a big price tag attached to it. Unless she decides to stay in this farce of a marriage "for the sake of the children-! More like she's getting some kind of payoff to stick around. If I were her, I'd let the mistress in Argentina have him, after all she's his soulmate. Let him be her problem. I'm sure his constituents in South Carolina feel the way same way. Good riddance!

Are there any benefits to the Health Care Reform?

For months now, all we keep hearing about is all the negative stuff about Obama's Health Care Reform. Taxes will go up for example and it will have disasterous results. Wrong, the first thing that will happen is...nothing. For those who had Medicaid or a state-sponsored HMO like HealthFirst, FamilyHealthPlus or ChildHealth Plus, your coverage and benefits should stay the same. No bells and whistles here, no fanfare.

Medical bankruptcies would drop and insurance agencies will not be able to commit the atrocities that they used to such as dropping people who have "pre-existing conditions" or a lot of claims files. There seems that there will be more human treatment of people, instead insurees being dropped from policies when they have catastrophic and terminal illnesses. People who don't have coverage, now will be insured. This includes the working poor, those who are employed by small businesses and make too much money to qualify for state-sponsored HMO'S or Medicaid.

I know there is not a cure-all for our health care crisis but this is definitely a start in the right direction!

It's a Done Deal....

It's official, Sonia Sotomayer will be sworn in tomorrow. It's about time! The Senate Nominating Committee had this woman literally jumping through hoops with the questions they grilled her with. These foolish men only made themselves look only more foolish, not to mention sexist and racist. On the panel made up of both Democrats and Republicans, they should have been impartial and unbiased. Shame on you, Orrin Hatch.

Failing Sarah Palin

This woman resigned from being Governor of Alaska just in time. There was much spectulation from her supporters as well as her opponents as why was she doing this, especially only after a year and a half into her term of office. There was talk of her running for President in 2012. God forbid this woman should be President. Every word that comes out of her mouth is fodder for stand-up comics and talk show hosts. Then she has a multi-million book deal. The only thing I can figure out she is the target of an ethics probe as a result of her days in office.

Palin was involved in a scandal with firing her then brother-in-law from a state job. Now it seems she's been implicated in an ethics probe involving her accepting funds for legal fees. Thomas Daniel, an Anchorage, Alaska attorney said in a July 14th report that he found probably cause Palin violated ethics laws by trading in on her position as she sought money for legal fees.
Tsk, tsk, tsk, Sarah-if it's not one thing it's another.

UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE...

These last several weeks, the topic on many Americans mind is universal healthcare. The pros and cons, all the commercials and the media coverage of it. President Obama seems content on getting his way, by hook or crook. Now, he talks of raising taxes to accommodate the costs of it. There seems to be no easy solution to this problem. There has to be more planning and research into it before making it official. They don't want another travesty on their hands like No Child Left Behind, it too was a bipartisan effort. The law was passed through with little research or planning and it ended up being a big black eye on the country's education reform. It was meant to be the cure-all to the country's educational woes, making schools, school districts and states accountable and instead caused testing overkill and lowered teacher morale. Educators complained that the were teaching to the test, which meant drilling students for the standardized tests. Students with special needs were left behind as were the English Language Learner, they fell between the proverbial cracks.

True, our healthcare system needs a major overhaul but not at the expense and welfare of the American people.