Economic Stimulus Plan in More Detail

Several of you left comments asking for more detail on the American recovery and Reinvestment Bill 2009 that passed the House this week. So for those of you who like the nitty gritty, here are a few links:

Executive Summary of the Bill, Committee on Appropriations

Wall Street Journal's Interpretation of the Plan

If you know of any other worthwhile links, please shout them out in the comments.

Economic Stimulus Plan in More Detail

http://politics4moms.blogspot.com/2009/01/economic-stimulus-plan-in-more-detail.html

A Reasoned Approach to the Stimulus Package

Interesting NYT op-ed piece on the recovery plan. If the guy is a top Obama advisor, why did he have such little influence over the final product?

A Reasoned Approach to the Stimulus Package

http://politics4moms.blogspot.com/2009/01/reasoned-approach-to-stimulus-package.html

The Best of Both Worlds?

If you are a Dittohead, you know that your fearless leader has been under fire this week from President Obama for being a bulwark to unity and progress. But in this new era of bipartisanship, radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh has extended a modern-day olive branch and proposed an economic stimulus plan that he believes both sides of the aisle can rally around.

Limbaugh's plan was in the Wall Street Journal yesterday. Take a minute to read it (it's not long) and then come back and tell us if you think the Limbaugh-Obama Stimulus Plan can solve our country's economic woes.

The Best of Both Worlds?

http://politics4moms.blogspot.com/2009/01/best-of-both-worlds.html

Loose Screw or Rush to Judgment?

I know this will go against what 98% of America believe, but I think Gov. Blagojevich may have a point.

There is no doubt that Blagojevich is a bit strange and has made his share of enemies in the state of Illinois. Earlier this week, pundits actually thought he may have been trying to mount a case for insanity as he zipped around NYC doing television show after television interview babbling about Oprah, cowboys and other nonsense.

Regardless, the fact remains that he hasn't been convicted of a crime, he hasn't even been indicted.

"How can you throw a governor out of office, and you haven't been able to show or prove any criminal wrongdoing?" Blagojevich said in his address to the Illinois Senate today. "How can you throw a governor out of office who is clamoring and begging to bring witnesses in?" he continued.

Then you have the prosecutor who seems to make a worthy argument.

"He has a Constitutional right not to be thrown in jail without a fair trial," said David Eillis, impeachment prosecutor continued. "But he does not have a Constitutional right to be governor. That is a privilege and he forfeited that privilege. He has abused the power of his office."

But where is the abuse of power? If it hasn't been proven that he committed a crime, then what exactly has he done wrong...besides be an idiot more often than not. It would appear that maybe they are trying to oust him for past grievances than maybe on the merits of this case.

Of course, if Blagojevich is indicted and the charges stick then I believe they have all the justification in the world to impeach him. The crimes he could be charged with are very serious and would mean that he intentionally tried to undermine and corrupt our democratic system. We should all be outraged at that.

But can't we let the judicial system work before we hang him out to dry? You can't get rid of a guy just because he may have a loose screw. Even loose screws deserve their day in court.


sources: FoxNews.com,

Loose Screw or Rush to Judgment?

http://politics4moms.blogspot.com/2009/01/loose-screw-or-rush-to-judgment.html

New Legislation Guarantees Equal Pay for Women

I was fresh out of college and had visions of finding the right job where I could prove I was an intelligent and hard working employee and then I was sure career advancement and pay increases would follow.

Then I did a phone interview with the president of a local non-profit and my Pollyanna world crumbled just a bit. The guy was doing screening interviews and so we talked about my qualifications and a little bit about the available position. At the end of the call, he gave me the salary range for the position and then stated, "Now you do realize that if you were a guy, you'd make more money. That's just the way it is in business, men tend to make more than women."

My jaw hit the ground. First, I couldn't believe pay discrimination even existed; I thought it was simply an urban legend or practice that maybe existed 50 years prior. Secondly, if it did, I couldn't believe an employer would openly admit to it.

That's why I was especially happy that the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act was signed into law today by President Obama.

Lilly Ledbetter filed a 1998 suit against a Goodyear Tire Rubber Co. plant in Gadsen, Ala., after learning that men working in the same position were making more money. In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 vote that Ledbetter had waited too long to sue, since she brought the suit near the end of her 19-year career with the company.

The new legislation allows lawsuits to be brought years later, as long as the alleged pay disparity is continuing. The bill does not change current law limiting back pay for claimants to two years.

On average, women make 78 cents for every dollar men earn. The new legislation isn't limited to gender-based discrimination. It amends the 1964 Civil Rights Act and also applies to discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, disability or age.

Agree or disagree with this legislation? What are your thoughts?

sources: ABCNews.com, FoxNews.com

New Legislation Guarantees Equal Pay for Women

http://politics4moms.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-legislation-guarantees-equal-pay.html

Are You on Twitter?

Want more Politics for Moms? Follow me on Twitter and you'll get little gems just like this:

Congressional Budget Office says borrowing $820B will cost $347B more in interest. Puts total cost of the stimulus package over $1 trillion.

and this:

Post Office is considering only delivering mail 5 days a week to save money.

Are You on Twitter?

http://politics4moms.blogspot.com/2009/01/are-you-on-twitter.html

$819 billion Stimulus Plan Passes House

The House passed the stimulus package tonight. Despite President Obama's desire to have a bipartisan bill, all of the Republicans and 11 Democrats voted against it.

Although the plan was suppose to help create jobs, there was plenty of other causes represented. Among the nearly $820 billion in the proposal are $25 million for new ATV trails; $400 million for the National Endowment for the Arts; $400 million for global warming research; $335 million for the Centers for Disease Control to combat sexually-transmitted diseases; and $650 million coupons to subsidize TV viewers for digital television conversion.

Supporters of the bill contend though that the bill is suppose to help create jobs and that's exactly what it does.

"I think that you have a hard economic argument to make that paving a road, or fixing a bridge, or building a wind turbine, or laying a power grid doesn't create jobs," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Of the $819 billion package, $30 billion has been set aside for infrastructure spending.

Now the bill heads to the Senate for consideration.

sources: FoxNews.com

$819 billion Stimulus Plan Passes House

http://politics4moms.blogspot.com/2009/01/house-passed-stimulus-package-tonight.html

What Really Matters in Life

George Bush was not a perfect president. Perfect presidents don't exist. But I believe he tried his best to serve and protect a country that he loves.

George Bush is not a perfect dad. Perfect dads don't exist. But despite his imperfections, he did his best to raise and protect two daughters that he loves deeply.

I think history will be a harsh judge of his presidency, but this video proves that he already is a huge success with his girls. And in the end, I think their opinion will be the only ones that matter to him.

What Really Matters in Life

http://politics4moms.blogspot.com/2009/01/what-really-matters-in-life.html

Better Late Than Never

I know the inauguration is now in the history books. But in the spirit of the new tone of this site, I wanted to post some reflections I had from that day. This was previously posted on my family site the evening of the inauguration.

Here are my inauguration observations...

1. Loved that Michelle Obama brought Mrs. Bush a gift. Classy.
2. Kid Rock said he is a patriot. God help us!
3. Bush #41 was showing his age today.
4. Loved #41's hat he donned for the swearing in ceremony. I bet the Bush twins were mortified.
5. I thought that if Bush's helicopter broke down and couldn't take him to Texas, maybe Aretha Franklin would let him borrow her hat. I'm pretty sure that thing could fly, if given the chance to take off.
6. I don't understand poetry.
7. I wonder what people would've said if Rick Warren would've prayed "when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead..."
8. The tradition and peaceful transition of power on this day is truly amazing.
9. Abe Lincoln on the Illinois float was scary looking.
10. Dick Cheney looked miserable.
11. I was reminded of how lonely the job of President is as Obama walked down the long corridors and out onto the Capitol terrace by himself.
12. What do you think Bush and Obama talked about during the car ride to the Capitol?
13. I bet Cheney leaned over to Biden and said "So are you nervous to be sitting so close to the most dangerous man in America?"
14. Michelle is hating having that train on her dress tonight. Every time I see her she is flipping it out of the way.
15. I wonder if I can hire the White House staff to move me into my next house. I'll give them 15-20 minutes and then show up to find my clothes in the closet and the refrigerator stocked with my favorite foods.
16. I'm glad my husband wasn't sworn in as the president. My 3-year-old would've probably launched the Lincoln Bible into the crowd and then hidden under Sandra Day O'Connor's robe.
17. Where do 2 million people go to the bathroom?
18. I was disappointed in Obama's speech. No electricity.
19. I was saddened to hear the crowd boo Bush when he was introduced.
20. I think every television station was given the same talking points. As I flipped through all of them I heard the same facts, statistics and anecdotes over and over again.
21. For instance, William Henry Harrison's inauguration speech was over 2 hours long. He got pneumonia due to the bitter cold weather of that day and died a month later.
22. Wall Street took a dive today. Coincidence?
23. If they would've passed the bucket and taken an offering with all those people in attendance, maybe we could've cut the deficit a little.
24. 600 private planes flew into Dulles for the festivities. Are energy-saving, carbon footprint concerned Democrats allowed to own private planes?
25. An announcer welcomed Barack H. Obama to the Capitol's west steps. Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office to Barack Hussein Obama, who repeated his full name. And the ceremony ended with the Rev. Joseph Lowery's benediction for Barack Obama.
26. And, suddenly Hillary Clinton is again Hillary Rodham Clinton.
27. Production at work places must have been close to nil yesterday b/c the Internet was on overdrive (i.e. soooooooooo slow) with people trying to watch the festivities live, view pictures and read commentary. It's amazing that the American people didn't break the Internet on our historic day. But if we had, Al Gore was around and could have fixed it. I mean, he did invent it so I assume he could fix it if it broke.
28. On my TV, Michelle's outfit looked green. The commentators said it was yellow gold. Regardless of the color, how did she stay warm? There was nothing to that coat.
29. Loved Dr. Jill Biden's go-go boots. But I thought her skirt was too short for her age and the occasion. I did like her red coat. Seems like red is a better color to wear than yellow gold/green.
30. I wonder what kind of gas mileage the President's new armored car gets. I'm sure it's probably a hybrid of some sort.
31. I thought the instrumental music by all those famous musicians (too tired to look all their names up) was wonderful.
32. They should've done a balloon release. Nothing says inauguration like a red, white and blue balloon release.
33. Saw Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans, sitting in the cheap seats. Actually, I'm not sure he even had a seat. Maybe he gave his ticket to Oprah.
34. Obama is a lefty. Trivia Question: How many presidents have been left-handed?

In conclusion, a great day for America. God bless (and help) the United States of America. What were your observations and impressions from the day?

Better Late Than Never

http://politics4moms.blogspot.com/2009/01/better-late-than-never.html

I'm Baaaaaacccckkkkk

(tap, tap, tap)

Hello. Is anyone out there?

(tap, tap, tap)

Anyone at all?

According to my site meter, I'm averaging 7 visitors a day right now. So I may very well be talking to myself in this post. But I'm hoping many of you left me in your Google Reader or Bloglines.

On January 22, 2008, I started this site to inform women about the candidates and issues for our upcoming election. What I wasn't expecting was to be completely exhausted trying to achieve that goal. It is a lot of hard work trying to keep up on the ever changing political landscape and to check and verify information (especially when the "real" media isn't doing that).

So when the election was over I was mentally exhausted and didn't care if I ever read another newspaper or talked politics again in my life. I toyed with what to do with the site and tried a few times to write something but I just didn't have anything to say. I just wasn't sure that people even cared about politics when it wasn't an election year. And if they weren't going to care, I wasn't going to knock myself out trying to make them care.

Then a week ago, we inaugurated a new president and suddenly I had a lot to say again about politics. Ironically, at the same time, I got several emails from people asking me if I was going to continue blogging at P4M. I felt the love.

So, the short answer is yes, P4M is back up and running. But---isn't there always a 'but'---P4M is going to read a little differently.

I am no longer going to stay neutral on issues and candidates. I'm a conservative mom who lives in a blue state and I think it's important that I let my voice be heard. There are plenty of great on-line resources if you still want a unbiased take on the day's events and hot topics. I'll be listing those sites in the sidebar in the coming days.

I especially hope that my liberal readers will stick around and take part in our discussions. It gets kind of boring when you're preaching to the choir. But intelligent debates lead to even better ideas.

And, to be honest, politics can be sooooo boring. In fact, I got bored just reading this site sometimes. So I'm going to write more like I normally write---with a little wit thrown in to keep us from thinking that the sun rises and sets according to those in Washington.

I guess that does it! Thanks for sticking with me. Regardless of who you voted for, I hope you'll visit often and jump in with your two cents.

I'm Baaaaaacccckkkkk

http://politics4moms.blogspot.com/2009/01/im-baaaaaacccckkkkk.html