You get a place that ranks near the bottom on measures of social health and stability, and near the top in measures of the toxic, unhealthy aspects of industrial life. At least that’s the case in Texas, home of George W. Bush and Tom Delay the Exterminator. A new report, titled “Texas on the Brink”, has found that: Texas ranks first in the percentage of uninsured children, first in toxic and cancerous emissions and second in teenage pregnancies. It lags far behind in high-school graduation rates, consumer credit scores and percentage of the population with health insurance. The reason? According … Continue reading →

How about cutting a program that literally doesn’t work? The entire idea of missile defense is nothing but a boondoggle, pure corporate welfare. We can’t afford to let the Red Ink Republicans waste our money this way. Write your Congresspeople and tell them about it.

In the end, they decided to lower ethical standards anyway. Just not in the way they first proposed. You can’t wash the sleaze out of the sleazy, it seems.

In today’s New York Times, Paul Krugman describes exactly what I’m talking about in the post below. There are only two things that could endanger Social Security’s ability to pay benefits before the trust fund runs out. One would be a fiscal crisis that led the U.S. to default on all its debts. The other would be legislation specifically repudiating the general fund’s debts to retirees. That is, we can’t have a Social Security crisis without a general fiscal crisis – unless Congress declares that debts to foreign bondholders must be honored, but that promises to older Americans, who have … Continue reading →

What fun! Suddenly they decide that DeLay needs a spanking after all! WASHINGTON – House Republicans suddenly reversed course Monday, deciding to retain a tough standard for lawmaker discipline and reinstate a rule that would force Majority Leader Tom DeLay to step aside if indicted by a Texas grand jury. Wouldn’t you love to be a fly on the wall inside the Republican caucus? UPDATE: Apparently DeLay himself requested they rescind the change, since the Republicans’ lack of ethics was turning into a strong political issue for Democrats (duh!). Those attending the Republican meeting, which was held on the day … Continue reading →