Blue Radar

I post each morning, here are some of the political stories thatmight not be worthy of their own posts, but are nonetheless newsworthy:

• CONGRESS On Wednesday, four suspicious fires occurred inside two Senate office buildings.  They happened in the garbage cans in four different womens restrooms.
• CONGRESS The Senate unanimously passed the 2008 intelligence bill.  However, according to the Washington Post, "The final version of the bill also dropped a requirement that thedirector of national intelligence conduct an assessment of the effectsof global climate change on national security."  (Why the Democrats gave up on this requirement I have no idea.  Global warming is very much a national security issue.)
• HEALTH CARE With the children's health care veto almost certain to become an election year issue, the Democratic majorities in Congress are going to try and override the Bush veto.
• JUSTICE DEPARTMENT Once Alberto Gonzales became the Attorney General, the Justice Department issued a secret order endorsing the "harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the Central Intelligence Agency."
• CONGRESS The Senate passed a $459 billion Pentagon budget for 2008.
• GLOBAL WARMING A UK judge ruled that schools that show Al Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth" will have to issue a disclaimer beforehand that the movie is biased.
• 2008 ELECTION/SENATE Republican Pete Domenici of New Mexico will retire in 2008, opening up yet another possibility that the Democrats will pick up an extra Senate seat.
• 2008 ELECTION/PRESIDENTIAL Among black voters, Obama gets 40% and Clinton gets 38%.  Obama will need to widen that margin if he plans on winning South Carolina, since half of the electorate are African-American voters.
• 2008 ELECTION/PRESIDENTIAL Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul raised an impressive $5 million in the third quarter, $4 million more than Mike Huckabee.
• 2008 ELECTION/PRESIDENTIAL New Hampshire Republicans (Zogby): Romney - 24%, Giuliani - 21%, McCain - 16%, Thompson - 7%, Huckabee - 5%.

If we left something out, it's because we either wrote about ityesterday or are scheduled to do so in an individual post later today. Otherwise, feel free to add any stories in the commentbox.

Comments

[aravella]

• HEALTH CARE With the children's health care veto almost certain to become an election year issue, the Democratic majorities in Congress are going to try and override the Bush veto.

This amazes me. How is it possible that Barney gets better health care (I am sure) than the children of our country? In the WH Press Briefing October 2, 2007, Dana uses the word "neediest" so many times...so screw the "needy"? Also in the briefing (at 2:20 mins) she says "the president understands that the American people are inpatient." and " "but more importantly, he also understands that the Iraqi people are also impatient with their government...."

I am not familiar with the entire bill , but I did hear (I believe it was on FOX) that it is possible that some children who's parent's make $83,000 can be eligible. I would like to know what the stipulation would be for that to happen?...I am sure the families this refers to aren't living "high on the hog", maybe they have 10 children? And if there are scammers out there, I say weed them out afterwards. Don't penalize the kids that are in need because there are a few bad apples out there!

That's like saying "let's feed the hungriest kids, the hungry can wait.

[Chief Editor: Todd]

Exactly Tony, it's upside-down logic. Also, Bush misses the issue of the under-insured. Yes, a lot of children don't have health coverage at all. But what sucks almost just as much are the families that pay for health care each month, yet their children aren't completely covered.

Why is this so difficult? Let's just fund our children's health! Remember, all of us save money if it's preventative care, so that later on when these children become older they will be less likely to have surprise health complications that, yes, you and I end up paying for.

Also, the Bush veto deprives states of funding, and shoulders the burden onto governors whose budgets are already crunched thanks to unfunded mandates like the Patriot Act and No Child Left Behind.

[aravella]

And ya have to love Romney's stance on health care "everyone can pay something". I'll give him "many" people "might" be able to pay something.

Scenario:
A household takes in $1200 monthly, currently they are eating a lot of rice, beans, pasta etc. 2 times a month a pie is bought as a treat, gas for work, clothing etc. Romney's idea is (in essence) no pie, salvation army for clothes, get a job closer to home and supplement their diet with cardboard. The $5.00, $15.00...whatever he believes they can pay, just may be taking away from their already crappy quality of life.

For all you successful hard working people out there that say "let them do what I did" ...it isn't always that easy.

[Rogt]

How about this analogy;

Bush's basic policy on Katrina victims is, " Pul yourself up by your boot straps".
Boot straps these victims do not have for one reason or another. Boot straps that cost money they do not have to buy these boot straps to pull themselves up with.

Yet in a Mid Eastern country, America ousts a dictator because the Iraqi people will not do it itself.

But once the dictator is eliminated why doesn.t Bush pull out (like he did with Katrina victims) and let Iraq get its own boot straps and then pull itself up by them.

And how is a foriegn diplomat's protection paid by tax payers to the Blackwaters to insure their safety more important than American children that is the future generation.

Do these people think they can continue to profit from stealing from our government?
I don't thinkin the future their will be any gated community safe enough for them to live. Hunger can drive crime and violence as lack of hope in life.

Every legislator that does not vote for the veto over ride for schip must be branded loudly and removed from office. No matter what party.