December 2009 Archives

Wishing you a happy and healthy 2010!...

I have recently completed an online government training course that I am required to take for an upcoming assignment. While taking the course and clicking the links for associated information, I stumbled upon a fascinating spreadsheet published by our very own government on contractors and "top dollars" paid out in 2008. The results shouldn't have surprised me at all (and didn't), but I know there are a lot of people out there who don't have...

Today will be my final post of 2009, but I'll leave you with some recommended reading on where we are now and one view of what 2010 may hold in store. First from The Huffington Post, The Cash Committee: How Wall Street Wins On The Hill. Excerpt:"In the fall of 2008, Democrats took the White House and expanded their Congressional majorities as America struggled through a financial collapse wrought by years of deregulation. The public...

Newt Gingrich and Mitch McConnell may not realize what they've done, but they've tipped their hand. Yes, everyone knows what they are doing anyway, but they have all but opened up the books to let people see the tiny man behind the curtain. So far, the health care debate has been a lot of posturing and complaining about "waste." Well, as someone smarter than me once said, "one man's garbage is another man's treasure."You see,...

Following up on last week's post about the excise tax on the so-called "Cadillac" health plans, Bob Herbert has some new information in an op-ed piece in yesterday's New York Times. I'm not surprised that there's a lot of smoke and mirrors involved in the supposed cost-cutting and deficit reduction figures coming from the Senate, the CBO, and the White House. Smoke and mirrors seems to be the SOP when it comes to selling this...

Republicans are vowing to run on an election platform of repealing health care reform in 2010.  Newt Gingrich appeared on Meet The Press this Sunday and indicated that all Republicans running for office will "run on an absolute pledge to repeal this bill."  Right now, half of Americans support health care reform simply because the status quo can't be sustained - they don't even know what's in it.  Once details of the bill are announced...

It happened innocently enough. I took a quick trip to Tampa Bay back when I was engaged to watch some basketball with my friends. It's something I haven't been able to do since my daughter was born. Well, this was back in the winter of 2002 and you know what that meant in terms of airport security. Well, it was a weekend trip, so I didn't check any bags. I guess I should of. Someone...

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and that Santa brought you everything you wanted. He certainly was very good to Fannie and Freddie. Only in their case, Santa is the American taxpayer, you and me. One thing is clear, the plutocracy never sleeps, or takes a holiday. How about this for a Christmas Eve news dump?"The Obama administration pledged on Thursday to back beleaguered mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac no matter...

This year, it was a great Christmas for both my family and me.  My grandson, at 16 months, hasn't figured it all out yet, but really loved the wrapping paper his gifts came in.  I scored big time with tickets to Opening Day of the Red Sox in Boston in April, and some other really good stuff.  It was also a Beatles kind of Christmas, since I got the new box set of the entire...

From all of us at The Daily Hurricane, a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of our faithful readers!  It's been an exciting year for all of us and we're looking forward to a great 2010.  Best to you and yours.Jefe...