A Big Fat Slob

Carney Moves into the 'Yes' Column

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:58 GMT

Congressman Chris Carney (PA-10), announced late this afternoon that he will be supporting Health Insurance Reform when it comes up for a vote in the House. Carney supported the House Bill, but was undecided on the Senate Bill and reconciliation package. In recent days he has expressed exasperation and a bit of anger towards what he called "unconscionable" and "entirely misleading" anti-Health Insurance Reform television ads targeting him, which were financed by the astroturf group, Americans for Prosperity.

Weighing a Vote -- Kanjo Protecting Sallie Mae over District 11 Residents?

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 13:23 GMT

With the report that Kanjorski told the President that he will vote NO on Health Insurance Reform because the Congressman objects to the imapct of the included student loan reform effort on the Billion-Dollar Sallie Mae, which employs a few hundred in his District, we thought it a good time to take a look at what was on the other side of these scales.

A small percentage of Sallie Mae's employees work in the Hanover Industrial Park, in Kanjorski's District. Most of them are low-paid telephone collections/customer "service" workers. Even if Sallie Mae is right that many of them would lose their jobs as a result of the student loan reforms included in the health insurance reform legislation, even those jobs seem to pale in comparison to the impact of the pending legislation on the District residents.

Here's what the Congressional analysis of the impact for the 11th District shows:

Improve coverage for 420,000 residents with health insurance.
Give tax credits and other assistance to up to 190,000 families and 14,000 small businesses to help them afford coverage.
Improve Medicare for 133,000 beneficiaries, including closing the donut hole.
Extend coverage to 27,000 uninsured residents.
Guarantee that 8,200 residents with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage.
Protect 900 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs.
Allow 52,000 young adults to obtain coverage on their parents’ insurance plans.
Provide millions of dollars in new funding for 7 community health centers.
Reduce the cost of uncompensated care for hospitals and other health care providers by $42 million annually.

(The House has done a similar analysis for each District.)

There are 190,000 families in Kanjorski's Dsitrict who would qualify for health insurance subsidies under the pending legislation. 190,000!

But Kanjorski is joining the Republicans to say NO to the 190,000 families in his District who would finally be able to secure health insurance for their families. To protect a few hundred jobs.

There are 8,200 uninsured individuals in Kanjorski's district who have pre-existing medical conditions like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes and can't get health insurance. That would end under hte act, but Kanjorski thinks protecting a few hundred Sallie Mae jobs are more important than those eight thousand unfortunate citizens in his District who had the bad judgment to become ill.

In a single year, 900 families file bankruptcy in Kanjorski's District due to health care costs. That tragedy would be all but eliminated -- if not for Kanjorski's determination to protect a few hundred Sallie Mae jobs.

There are 133,000 Medicare beneficiaries in his district. The legislation improves their benefits by providing free preventive and wellness care, improving primary and coordinated care, and enhancing nursing home care. The bill also strengthens the Medicare Trust Fund, extending its
solvency from 2017 to 2026. And you know what Kanjorski thinks? Too bad, he wants to protect Sallie Mae jobs.

And there's more, you can read the details in the report.

You should be forgiven if you are thinking that stacking a few hundred Sallie Mae jobs against these hundreds of thousands of people in his District seems a little, well, UNbalnaced. Because, in trught, Kanjorski IS NOT balancing those hundreds of thousands against a few hundred Salie Me jobs -- he is balancing them against MORE than a few hundred thousand of Sallie Mae's dollars.

If you are in the 11th, it is time to call your Representative and let him know that balancing the lives of hundreds of thousands against Sallie Mae's millions is not why you sent him to Washington time and time again.

Call Rep. Kanjorski's office at (202) 225-6511. But don't stop there. Make it your mission today to get 5 friends or neighbors to call, too.

Kanjo Tells Prez: "I'm (probably) voting 'No'!"

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 09:58 GMT

A source with information received directly from the White House has told us that Kanjorski has told the President that he is ~~firmly~~ in the Republican column on the health insurance reform initiative. [See UPDATE below] Contrary to recent reports in the Washington Post , Firedoglake, and Ben Pershing's Blog, among others, Kanjorski reportedly told the President there was little no room for movement on his vote.

Kanjorski's movement to the "No" column was NOT the result of the faux abortion issue. Instead, Kanjo's decision to oppose health insurance reform was dictated by the interests of the large private student loan lender, Sallie Mae, which has a facility in his district. Kanjorski has long-ties with the folk at Sallie Mae, something he's boasted about in the past. A 2008 piece on Kanjorski's deep-ties to Sallie Mae laid it out pretty well:

Sallie Mae has rewarded Kanjorski for his support in other ways as well. According to federal campaign finance records, the loan giant has contributed, through its PAC and from individual company officials, nearly $70,000 to the Congressman's campaign coffers over the last decade. In addition, the Sallie Mae Fund, the company's charitable arm, has made generous contributions to one of the Congressman's pet causes: donating $1 million in 2003 to the Wilkes-Barre Catholic Youth Center, which provides daycare and overnight care to children from primarily lower-income and minority families. Kanjorski has long championed the center and fought to get federal funding for it. In Sallie Mae's news release, the center's executive director "expressed deep gratitude" to the Congressman for helping to secure the loan company's donation.

Stephen Burd, The Higher Ed Watch Blog. The House added "The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act" to the reconciliation bill on health insurance reform. The reform measure allows students to borrow directly from the federal government instead of from Sallie Mae or other lenders. Currently, the federal government loans money to Sallie Mae, which in turn makes a tidy profit by re-lending our tax dollars to college kids.

Kanjorski, by supporting one of his large corporate financial backers, is threatening to turn~~ing~~ his back on the rank and file, the middle class, the laborers, and all of the individuals suffering for lack of access to health care.

We spoke with a Kanjorski spokesperson who did not deny that Kanjo is a no. Instead, speaking about the Kanjorski conversation with the President, the spokesman said only, "I am not aware of that conversation." When asked, did the Congressman tell the President that he will be voting no, the spokesperson responded again, "I am not aware of such a conversation." Asked if the Congressman is going to vote no, "As far as I know, the Congressman is undecided."

As an apparent result of Kanjorski's conversation with the President, this morning the Organizing for America folks sent out an email to their supporters in Kanjo's district. In that email they warned that Kanjorski's vote can't "be taken for granted" and urged recipients to "pick up the phone and call Rep. Kanjorski's office at (202) 225-6511. But don't stop there. Make it your mission today to get 5 friends or neighbors to call, too."

The same source also reports that Kanjorski isn't going to bother to tally the calls to his District offices or 800 numbers -- the only calls he's counting are the ones to his DC office. Odd choice, but when a guy is going to cast a vote based on how it affects his corporate sponsor, one wonders why he's counting at all.

If he follows through, Corey O'Brien will be getting a check from me on Monday.

UPDATE: My contact contacted me this afternoon to say that Kanjorski was firm in refusing the President's request to commit to yes and told the President that he was strongly leaning "No" -- he did not, apparently, come right out and say he was firmly in the 'No' column, but that he was likely to be a 'No' vote. We were also told that many Kanjorski District voters were unable to get through to his Washington office because it was so busy with callers.

The Bus Came By, So Let's Get On!

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 15:58 GMT

ROAD TRIP!!!!

Here's a chance to support Melanie's Marchers. They've arranged for buses to ferry supporters to join the marchers for the last mile or so of the trip. If you can take a day and get your butt to Philadelphia or Pittsburgh on Wednesday, the 24th, you can join the last leg of Melanies March and come to the 2:00 event on Captiol Hill with Senators Casey and Specter.

For information on catching the Philadelphia bus, go here; to ride the Pittsburgh bus, go here.

Can't make the bus, there's more that you can do from home, check it out.

GET ON THE BUS!

Support Melanie's March for Health Insurance Reform

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:08 GMT

A couple of days ago, a group of activist citizens set out from Philadelphia on foot. Their destination is Washington, DC, where they hope to arrive and lead a rally for health insurance reform on the day before President Obama's Health Insurance Reform Summit. They've named their march "Melanie's March to the Finish Line", in honor of Melanie Shouse. Melanie lost a long battle with breast cancer. She died after not being able to obtain critical health care because she couldn't obtain affordable insurance.

Melanie was a tireless worked on President Obama's campaign and an advocate for health insurance reform. All of the marchers in Melanie's March have similar personal stories driving their advocacy.

You can support their efforts in a few ways. You can join them for portions of their march (find out how here).
You can attend one of the events they are sponsoring along the way (more on that here).
Donations are always helpful and appreciated, in any amount. Donate here.
Help promote the event with these flyers.
Sign up to call congress.
Participate in a virtual march.

I can't make it any easier for you . These marchers are pushing themselves phsyically and mentally to help make things better for you -- can't you take a few moments to help them right from your home, right now?

Marching to the Finish Line for Melanie, While Kanjo Marches Backwards

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:13 GMT

Kanjo owes his career to unprincipled pandering for votes. He spent last year obfuscating his position on health insurance reform. Almost daily one would find Kanjo flipping or hawing on support for reform, depending on which donor or voting group to which he was speaking.

Now, facing a challenge from his younger doppelganger, Corey Who'brien? (also willing to say anything, even if it sounds like nothing, to get a vote or a dollar) in the Demo primary, Kanjo is not only backing off his ultimate support for health insurance reform, but blaming the White House for his own lack of leadership on the issue -- as if the White House was responsible for unprincipled hacks like Kanjo stalling progress on the measure while they covered their ample political asses. Here's the take-away that a local Wilkes-Barre editorial board offered after their sit-down with Kanjo:

[Kanjo] blamed the Obama administration's inflexibility in veering from the health care debate and Democratic leaders' inability to overcome infighting and political grandstanding for a logjam . . . .

The Citizen's Voice, 2/18/2010

Not sure if Kanjo is the Pot or the Kettle here, but his butt is definitely singed . . . .

And he waddles back from his ultimate support for health insurance reform, and high praise for the leadership, citizens of Pennsylvania are struggling through cold and snowy streets, challenging their own bodies to challenge the Democrats to grow a pair, and show the leadership we need for pass health insurance reform now. Kanjo can do with both. From the dedicated souls trekking from Philadelphia to Washington Dc for the cause of health insurance reform, Kanjo's disappointing display would be disheartening. But those men and women in Melanie's March to the Finish Line are not easily dissuaded by the gutless likes of Kanjo.

Nor are those working tirelessly behind the scenes of the movement for health insurance reform, like the indefatigable Katy W. (our newest fan) who we hear is just doing a bang-up job as Healthcare Navigator at PUP. These marchers, and the men and women behind them, are trying to make a difference. Kanjo, he's just trying to keep his job.

"Melanie's March" on Washington Leaves from Philly Today

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:13 GMT

From PHAN in today's inbox:

Health Care Reform Activists to Walk
From Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.

Eight-Day March Will Stop In Delaware, Maryland, Washington.
Marchers Will Deliver Message to Congress: People Are Dying. No More Delays.

Philadelphia, PA - At noon on Wednesday, February 17, hundreds of health care reform activists and supporters will kick off "March to the Finish Line for Melanie" - an eight-day walk from Philadelphia to Washington, DC to call on Congress to finish the job on health care reform.

The march will honor one health reform advocate who recently lost her battle with breast cancer after her insurance company refused to pay for the treatment her doctors said she needed.

During her illness, Melanie Shouse was a tireless campaigner for health care reform for all Americans, and the marchers will be bringing Melanie's message to Congress that not one more person should have to suffer or die for lack of health care in our country.

The "March to the Finish Line for Melanie" group will arrive in Washington, DC the day before President Obama's Health Care Summit. As the summit is set to begin, the marchers - and supporters expected to number in the hundreds - will be there to tell lawmakers enough is enough!

They will deliver the message that Members of Congress have had plenty of time to discuss and debate health care over the past year, and now it's their job to make it happen. It's time to get it done and get it done right. Congress must deliver the change people voted for.

The March starts on Wednesday, February 17 with a noon rally at the Mother Bethel AME Church in Philadelphia and proceeds through University City and Southwest Philadelphia, ending the first day with a vigil at Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park. The group will hold rallies in Wilmington and Baltimore and host meet-ups for local residents in small towns along the way. Supporters and press can track the walk online at http://melaniesmarch.com/.

Members of the press are invited to join the group at any point along the route and interview walkers - some of whom have personal stories about the difficulty of securing access to affordable health care in America today. They will be accompanied by an RV with Internet access.

WHAT: "March to the Finish Line for Melanie" - A Walk from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. for Health Care Reform

WHO: Pennsylvannia citizens and activists from Health Care For America Now, Families USA, SEIU, Catholics United, The AME Church, Health Rights Organizing Project, Interfaith Worker Justice, National Physicians Alliance, Pennsylvania Health Access Network, Philadelphia Unemployment Project, UFCW, and Raising Women's Voices (List in formation).

WHEN: TODAY, February 17, 2010 to 2 p.m. (Walk will end in D.C. at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, February 24).

WHERE: Starting point is Mother Bethel AME Church, 419 S. 6th St., Philadelphia

For more information: www.melaniesmarch.com.

The Pennsylvania Health Access Network (PHAN) is a coalition of 50 groups from across the Commonwealth working to improve access to quality health care through the expansion of health insurance coverage. PHAN organizes health care consumers, works to raise public awareness of the need for health system reform, and supports public policy proposals that will provide affordable access to quality health care for all Pennsylvanians. To learn more, go to www.pahealthaccess.org.

It's Joe Wilson's Habit

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:29 GMT

Apparently, Joe Wilson makes it a habit to label truths he doesn't like lies.

On C-SPAN, Talk of War Gets Awfully Belligerent

Facts can be such difficult things.

Donate to Wilson's Democratic opponent here: Rob Miller for Congress Because revenge really is the best revenge.

Pastor Asks God to Give President Brain Cancer

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:51 GMT

(h/t SANFU-ed)

It Really Is This Simple

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 04:40 GMT

Simple question, simple answer.

CNN / Opinion Research Corporation
8/28-31/09; 1,010 adults, 3% margin of error
Mode: Live telephone interviews
(CNN release)

Now thinking specifically about the health insurance plans available to most Americans, would you favor or oppose creating a public health insurance option administered by the federal government that would compete with plans offered by private health insurance companies?

55% Favor
41% Oppose

Time for the President to Lay off the footwork and throw a punch!

Playing Citizen for Big Blue

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:07 GMT

Last month, Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania, asked permission to raise its rates by up to 49%.

The "non-profit" health insurance company, headquartered in Wilkes Barre, recently attracted a policyholder suit for accruing a "surplus" of over $400,000,000.00 -- while increasing premiums. That lawsuit was thrown out (because the judge said that policyholders didn't have the right to contest the "nonprofit's" accumulation of profits). In apparent response to the fallout over the "but it is not a profit" disclosures, the NEPA insurer has been spending down the surplus, by doubling its "administrative expenses" over the last five years.

Among those increased administrative expenses are the efforts to defeat health insurance reform, including strong arming employees to play "citizen" and help defend those tremendous profits, err, "surpluses" (which, we are certain, will start to rebuild once all this silliness over reform has passed). Thus, this "confidential" memo by the Big Blue's CEO to the employees, teaching them how and what to say to targeted legislators (don't be alarmed -- I've disabled the 'take action' buttons). The woman that received this missive happens not to live in the Districts of the Congressmen mentioned, but clearly understood that her boss wanted her to use the "right" zip code so that she would appear to be in their District:

To: Enterprise Employees
From: Denise S. Cesare, President & CEO
Subject: Health Care Reform: An Invitation To Stay Involved
Date: September 1, 2009

As you will recall, earlier this summer I asked you to consider contacting Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senators on health care reform – an issue certain to have a dramatic effect on our Enterprise and our customers. I am pleased to note that an overwhelming 65 percent of our employees responded to this message and told our Senators that, while we agree that the time is right to reform our health care system, control costs and provide coverage to all Americans, the creation of a new government-run health plan should not be part of the solution.

I am again asking for your help, this time with our service area members of the U.S. House, Congressmen Chris Carney (D) and Paul Kanjorski (D). If your home zip code falls outside the districts of these Congressmen, we are asking you to send the same type of message to your members of Congress as dictated by your home zip code – our message still applies. Contrary to reports earlier in the summer, the U.S. House and Senate were unable to pass health care reform bills prior to the August recess. The fact that the path to reform has slowed and become a more deliberative debate is a direct result of citizens across the country – including us - getting actively engaged in this issue and speaking out.

Health care reform remains at the top of the legislative agenda and there is certain to be specific legislation under consideration this fall. Since Congress returns to session just after Labor Day, now is an ideal time to take action and contact members of Congress.

We will continue to advocate that all Americans have health insurance and for market reforms including a level playing field with no pre-existing condition exclusions or medical underwriting. At the same time, we continue to believe that a government-run health plan would be problematic for numerous reasons, some of them outlined below:
o Millions of Americans are likely to lose the private coverage they enjoy today. Millions are likely to move to the government plan that will have many price advantages such as lower provider reimbursement rates based on the Medicare model and exemption from federal and state taxes. These factors will lead to lower premiums in comparison to the private market, making it nearly impossible for private plans to “compete.”

o The government plan would underpay providers, leading to severe access problems. Provider underpayments will lead to access issues within the health care system such as long wait for services, or trouble finding a physician to provide such services. As provider’s revenues decline from lower payment structures under the government plan, facilities may be forced to suspend hiring of physicians and staff, and even close facilities.

o The government plan would undermine much needed delivery system reforms critical to controlling costs. History has proven the government can be slow to innovate and implement changes due to restrictive legislative and regulatory processes. Conversely, the private sector is free to innovate within a highly competitive marketplace. As one example, our Blue Health Solutions program has produced dramatic results in reducing healthcare expenditures and in improving employee health by engaging members in an active approach to managing their health and well-being. A government-run plan would not have the same cost control flexibility.

I am asking you to consider taking immediate action. If you are an Enterprise employee based in Pennsylvania, please click here to voice your concerns to your member of Congress. Once on the site, go to the updated “Featured Alert” and click on the “Take Action” button. Enter your home zip code and press “Go!” You will be taken directly to a custom letter that will be sent directly to your local member of Congress. Simply sign your name and fill in pertinent information, and hit “Send.” Your letter will arrive immediately via e-mail to the appropriate Congressional office. Please note: If your home zip code falls outside the districts of Congressmen Carney or Kanjorski, please continue to send the letter to your local member of Congress as dictated by your zip code – our message still applies.

If you are a BCNEPA employee who is NOT based in Pennsylvania, click here to send a message to the members of Congress in your state. Simply enter your zip code in the box on the left-hand column, and then fill in the required information to send the pre-populated letter. If you have trouble accessing the above information, please contact Arielle Phillips of our Government Affairs Department at .

Thank you.

Sigh. Among the misrepresentations being fostered by the insurance companies to protect their profits, sorry, "surpluses":

Millions of Americans are likely to lose the private coverage they enjoy today. -- Under the House bill, the public option is initially limited to small employers and people without any coverage whatsoever -- a number growing by over 10,000 a day. This is one of the compromises already placed into the program in the spirit of bi-partisanship. It is designed to give hte profit/surplus-makers time to adjust their offerings. Like good capitalists, they will. After all, I haven't seen FedEx having a problem competing with the Postal Service.

The government plan would underpay providers. -- Where to start. First, nothing in the plan sets rates. Second, provider participation in the government health insurance option would be voluntary. Third, I don't see Medicare or the Veteran's Administration running short of providers.

The government plan would undermine much needed delivery system reforms critical to controlling costs.-- this is just argument by iteration, and I am not even sure what it means. But I do know that Medicare has administrative expenses of 3-7%, while the private insurers had admin costs of up to 30% and are paying executives millions in annual compensation.

Big Blue, spoon feeding its employees and teaching them that if they input a zip code from a target Congressional District, they will look for all the world like a "citizen" from that District, "alarmed" about a series of reforms that will cut into their profits and multi-million dollar salaries.

Time to mow the astroturf.

On Getting Fooled Again

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:54 GMT

Witnessing the spectacle of the town halls and the irrational anger towards the reform of health insurance, I was more often left shaking my head in disbelief.

"They" didn't get it, "they" were spouting absurd arguments which bore no relation to reality. There was something familiar in all of this.

I suspected that, for most people, their opposition to health insurance reform was the product of indignation fueled by ignorance. The recent NBC News poll on the Health Insurance Reform initiative confirms that suspicion -- when you strip out the Republican misinformation and misdirection campaign, 53% of respondents favor the House plan currently on the table.

But, you wouldn't know that from reading any of NBC's own coverage of its own poll.

One would think this was the most newsworthy item in the poll -- the opposition to the proposed Health Insurance Reform initiative is based purely on misinformation and when people are presented with the facts, they favor the program. Indeed, when presented with the facts, only 29% are "strongly opposed" to the Democratic plan (roughly the same fringe element who still think the previous occupant was a great President).

First, let's take a look at the poll question in question:

12. Now I am going to tell you more about the health care plan that President Obama supports and please tell me whether you would favor or oppose it.

The plan requires that health insurance companies cover people with pre-existing medical conditions. It also requires all but the smallest employers to provide health coverage for their employees, or pay a percentage of their payroll to help fund coverage for the uninsured. Families and individuals with lower- and middle-incomes would receive tax credits to help them afford insurance coverage. Some of the funding for this plan would come from raising taxes on wealthier Americans.

Do you favor or oppose this plan? (IF "FAVOR/OPPOSE," ASK:) And do you strongly or only somewhat (favor/oppose) this plan?

Favor: 53%

Strongly -- 35%
Somewhat -- 18%

Oppose: 43%
Somewhat -- 14%
Strongly -- 29%

The same poll found a number of misconceptions about what the proposals on the table would and would not do -- and those misconceptions figured in the NBC news coverage of its own poll:

*** Rampant misinformation: One of the reasons why the public appears so wary about Obama’s health-care plans is due to all the misinformation out there. Majorities in the poll believe the plans would give health insurance coverage to illegal immigrants (55%), would lead to a government takeover of the health system (54%), and would use taxpayer dollars to pay for women to have abortions (50%) -- all claims that nonpartisan fact-checkers say are untrue about the legislation that has emerged so far from Congress. Additionally, 45% think the reform proposals would allow the government to make decisions about when to stop providing medical care for the elderly, which also isn’t true.

The same poll confirmed that a combined 60% wanted to see the system overhauled and more than that thought the Republicans were doing a bad job on the issue. Yet, NBC news has failed to highlight the most newsworthy bit in its poll -- we are (again) making decisions as a nation based on Republican-led and inspired misinformation (anyone recall when 70% believed that Saddam was behind 9/11).

Talk about burying the lead.

Soon

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 09:24 GMT

Happy Second of July!!

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:44 GMT

It is July 2, which means it is time for my annual tilt against the History you learnt.

This may be news to those of you not history majors (or my children, who had to listen to the story every year for the last couple of decades)-- but, the Continental Congress did NOT declare independence on the Fourth of July. That actually happened on July 2, 1776. (The vote was 12-0, New York abstained.)

Months before, Richard Lee and John Adams had arrived at the Continental Congress prepared to argue for independence, fully aware that those sentiments may not be entirely embraced by the gathering.

In early June, Lee proposed a resolution severing colonial ties to the British:

"Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."

Adams seconded the Lee Resolution.

Initial debate on the Resolution revealed a majority in favor, but a significant number of the colonies yet unsure or lacking appropriate instructions on independence. Congress was adjourned to allow time for the representatives to obtain instructions from their colonies, and for lobbying.

In the meantime, anticipating adoption of the Lee Resolution, a committee was conscripted to draft the argument for independence and the justification for what was, clearly, a treasonous and seditious act. In short, they were assigned to draft the new Union's first talking points memo.

Appointed were John Adams, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson. Franklin, concerned that Adams was a little too much the aggressive litigator, suggested that Jefferson put together a draft. Adams, nothing if not self-aware, readily agreed and lobbied the reluctant Jefferson to accept the role. Jefferson, borrowing heavily from George Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights, produced a rough draft. He then presented it to Adams and Franklin, who made some changes to the document before it was sent to the committee, which approved it without further change.

Congress reconvened on July 1, 1776 and the Lee Resolution was adopted July 2, 1776.

It is thus on the Second of July, 1776 that the Colonies Declared themselves Free and Independent States -- the true birth of our Union. That day, Adams famously wrote home how the date would be celebrated through history with picnics and fireworks:

The Second Day of July 1776 will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. . . . It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires, and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

Immediately after declaring independence from England, the Congress took up Jefferson's Committee Report. They reviewed, debated, and revised it in sessions on July 2, 3 and 4. On the morning of the 4th, they adopted the Declaration of Independence.

It was sent to the printer the following day and the first signatures were affixed in August, 1776, when most members of Congress were present to sign the document. But the final signature would not be set for over five years.

So, you all go off and enjoy the Fourth. I'll start raising my glass(es) to Jefferson, Lee, Adams, Franklin and the rest of the gang today. (All this and more at the National Archives .)

(PS. On July 7, the NY Assembly voted to instruct the delegation to vote in favor of the Lee Resolution, making the vote for independence unanimous.)

Pennsylvania Senate Proposing to Eliminate ALL Funding for Legal Services

Tue, 05 May 2009 14:04 GMT

The Pennsylvania Senate introduced SB 850 as their proposed 2009-2010 state budget on Friday, May 1st. That legislation is poised to be voted on, and adopted, by the Senate tomorrow, Wednesday, May 6th. SB 850 eliminates all state funding (all $3,172,000 of the state's appropriation) for civil legal services. Access to justice is fundamental to a civil society. The reduction of funding for legal services at a time of substantially increased need due to current, severe economic recession is remarkable.

Please call your state senator immediately. Implore him/her to restore the state appropriation for civil legal services. Tell him/her that access to justice for the poorest among us is not an appropriate "bargaining chip" for budget negotiation. Need contact information for your State Senator, go here (the search tool is in the upper right hand corner -- serach by zip code or county).

A Big Fat Slob is Cleaning His Room

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:36 GMT

and going on a diet . . . . be seeing you.

Two Luzerne County Judges Going to Jail

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:16 GMT

Local developer Mericle, attorney Powell figure in judicial corruption case

An Inaugural Address for Our Time

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 07:03 GMT

For many reasons, including the encouragement of the man himself, the ghost of Lincoln hovers above the Mall today. There is a certain visceral satisfaction to seeing today as the fulfillment of that arc of History. But more frequently coming to my mind as I anticipate today's spectacle, is another Historic election.

At an earlier time, but not that much earlier, a progressive Democrat was hoisted on the shoulders of his fellow-citizens. They carried him Washington, ending a long regime of Republican control. Facing an increasingly destabilizing international scene, his main pressing task at the outset was to lead his Nation out of the economic devastation wrought, in some significant measure, by the Republican's laissez-faire approach to market regulation and the irrational over-investment which it encouraged.

When FDR took office in March of 1933, he rode into office on the strength of the new Democratic coalition which he cobbled together -- the poor, the labor movement, northern city dwellers as well as Southern whites. Taking office in the full flower of the Great Depression and promising change in outlook, philosophy, and emphasis, re-reading his first inaugural I can imagine the words being spoken in the cadences of the man who will be speaking on that same National platform today:

This is a day of national consecration. And I am certain that on this day my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency, I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impels.

This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure, as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life, a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.

In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunk to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; and the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone. More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.

And yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered, because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply.

Primarily, this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and have abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.

True, they have tried. But their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit, they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They only know the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.

Yes, the money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of that restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy, the moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days, my friends, will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves, to our fellow men.

Recognition of that falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, and on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live.

Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation is asking for action, and action now.

Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing great -- greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our great natural resources.

Hand in hand with that we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and, by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of the land for those best fitted for the land.

Yes, the task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the values of agricultural products, and with this the power to purchase the output of our cities. It can be helped by preventing realistically the tragedy of the growing loss through foreclosure of our small homes and our farms. It can be helped by insistence that the Federal, the State, and the local governments act forthwith on the demand that their cost be drastically reduced. It can be helped by the unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, uneconomical, unequal. It can be helped by national planning for and supervision of all forms of transportation and of communications and other utilities that have a definitely public character. There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped by merely talking about it.

We must act. We must act quickly.

And finally, in our progress towards a resumption of work, we require two safeguards against a return of the evils of the old order. There must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments. There must be an end to speculation with other people's money. And there must be provision for an adequate but sound currency.

These, my friends, are the lines of attack. I shall presently urge upon a new Congress in special session detailed measures for their fulfillment, and I shall seek the immediate assistance of the 48 States.

Through this program of action we address ourselves to putting our own national house in order and making income balance outgo. Our international trade relations, though vastly important, are in point of time, and necessity, secondary to the establishment of a sound national economy. I favor, as a practical policy, the putting of first things first. I shall spare no effort to restore world trade by international economic readjustment; but the emergency at home cannot wait on that accomplishment.

The basic thought that guides these specific means of national recovery is not nationally -- narrowly nationalistic. It is the insistence, as a first consideration, upon the interdependence of the various elements in and parts of the United States of America -- a recognition of the old and permanently important manifestation of the American spirit of the pioneer. It is the way to recovery. It is the immediate way. It is the strongest assurance that recovery will endure.

In the field of world policy, I would dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor: the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others; the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors.

If I read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize, as we have never realized before, our interdependence on each other; that we can not merely take, but we must give as well; that if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such discipline no progress can be made, no leadership becomes effective.

We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and our property to such discipline, because it makes possible a leadership which aims at the larger good. This, I propose to offer, pledging that the larger purposes will bind upon us, bind upon us all as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in times of armed strife.

With this pledge taken, I assume unhesitatingly the leadership of this great army of our people dedicated to a disciplined attack upon our common problems.

Action in this image, action to this end is feasible under the form of government which we have inherited from our ancestors. Our Constitution is so simple, so practical that it is possible always to meet extraordinary needs by changes in emphasis and arrangement without loss of essential form. That is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most superbly enduring political mechanism the modern world has ever seen.

It has met every stress of vast expansion of territory, of foreign wars, of bitter internal strife, of world relations. And it is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority may be wholly equal, wholly adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us. But it may be that an unprecedented demand and need for undelayed action may call for temporary departure from that normal balance of public procedure.

I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption.

But, in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis -- broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.

For the trust reposed in me, I will return the courage and the devotion that befit the time. I can do no less.

We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike. We aim at the assurance of a rounded, a permanent national life.

We do not distrust the -- the future of essential democracy. The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I take it.

In this dedication -- In this dedication of a Nation, we humbly ask the blessing of God.

May He protect each and every one of us.

May He guide me in the days to come.

Yes. We. Did.

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 06:23 GMT

I expected it. For months, I've been sparking bar argument and encouraging GOTV workers with confident assertions of an electoral landslide for Barack Obama. When Pennsylvania was called for Barack, I opened the champagne, assuring the room that it was Game Over. When Oh. went for O., I wanted to kiss everyone in the room, knowing that 300+ was now a certainty.

But at 11:00:05, when the networks simultaneously called the race for Obama, I felt surprise and shock -- as if I had all along secretly expected that, somehow, they would take this from us also. My hands shook and the tears welled up. It wasn't that we finally were seeing the end to the darkest eight in our history, it wasn't that we were looking at an opportunity to undo so much. It was simple, and not so simple -- we had put a black man in the White House.

Yes. We. Did.

For the first time in so long I was truly proud of something my country had done.

I'm going to savor that for a little while. Then, it is on to the bitter hard work we have in front of us.

Waddau Lookin At?

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:13 GMT

Here's a few things to look for tonight.

7pm -- polls close in Indiana, Virgina, and Georgia, among others.

If Obama wins Virgina, turn off the TV because there is no reasonable scenario for McCain to get to 270 without Virgina. McCain can win Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and still not get to 270 without Virginia. (The latest SurveyUSA poll of FLA LV, concluded yesterday, puts Obama at 50%, McCain 47%, with 1% undecided.)

If Obama also wins Georgia (which we are expecting), pop the corks because that means an Obama landslide.

We are looking for Indiana to go with McCain. If it ends up in Obama's column, it could mean Obama hitting 350 electoral votes by the time the West Coast polls shut down at 11 Eastern.

If the 7:00 polls all go with McCain, then it is on to Ohio at 7:30. I am looking for Ohio to end up in McCain's column, but it is a must-win for him and if the Buckeye state goes to Obama, it is lights out.

Then the big battlegrounds come in at 8pm -- Florida and Pennsylvania, as well as Missouri. McCain must take Florida and Pennsylvania to have shot at 270.

While we are expecting the conclusion to be writ before the 9 pm poll closings, if there's still life in the old man at 9:00, watch the results in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and North Dakota. Obama should win New Mexico and Colorado, but if he adds either North Dakota or Arizona to his column, then you won't need to stay up for the final battleground closings at ten pm: Montana and Nevada.

I'm expecting an early night of poll-watching and a late night of celebration.

First Returns Favor Obama

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:05 GMT

The very first returns are in and the news is not good for John McCain.

The traditional Republican strongholds of Dixville Notch and Hart's Location in New Hampshire opened their polls shortly after midnight. With 100% of the voters casting their ballots, the result is a landslide win for Barack Obama. In Dixville Notch, Obama won with 15 votes to McCain's six, and in the larger burg of Hart's Location, Obama bested McCain 17 to 10.

Not for nothing, but McCain's road to 270 actually depends on New Hampshire in most scenarios. But this canary done keeled over.

It's the Turnout, Stupid

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 03:45 GMT

A source inside the Pennsylvania Obama GOTV organization recently told me that their internals put the spread in the Commonwealth at under 3 points. {The latest SurveyUSA poll of PA LV, concluded yesterday, puts Obama up 52-43%, with only 1% undecided.)

Think the election is going to be decided by the undecided voters or the soft supporters of either candidate? Nope. The next President is going to be put in office by a very different group of people.

What will win the election is the Get Out the Vote work. The candidate who has the better ground game, who has more key counties or precincts organized, who has been spending the last few months identifying likely supporters, and the last two weeks making sure that they vote, is going to win the election.

An effective GOTV organization can make up as much as a six or seven point polling deficit. As you look at all those light blue or light red states, keep that in mind. Also keep in mind that, over the last decade or so, the Repugs have had the most impressive of GOTV mechanics.

This cycle, Obama has a number of things going for him to offset the usual GOP GOTV advantage. The first advantage Obama has is Hillary. She Who Must Be Nominated die Obama and the Dems a big, if unintended, favor. By hanging on until long after the issue was decided, Hillary forced Obama to build his organizations in many more states than he would have needed to start work in had Hillary been gracious in defeat. This played well in Obama's strength -- expanding the playing field.

Playing in the red put additional pressure on the Repug GOTV in those states -- which may be a little weaker than in other areas, since the Repugs haven't previously had to work to win those states in Presidential elections

Keeping the interest in the primaries going not until the last day, but until the very last day, also kept the Dems out in front of the electorate. In all of those late-primary states, the Democrats essentially were handed the opening statement in the trial against the Repugs, with little opportunity for rebuttal.

It also continued the massive new-voter registration drive that Obama and the Dems have masterfully put together this cycle. While it is beginning to look like new voters will not comprise much more than the usual ten or twelve percent of the electorate, the Dem skew looks to be very very heavy among the new voters.

Finally, early voting. Some estimates are that nearly one-third of the votes cast in this election have already been recorded through early or absentee ballots. Obama appears to have banked a substantial advantage among these early votes. Besides starting out the day with a ten or fifteen point advantage, the early voters also relive the burden on the Obama GOTV organizations -- allowing them to concentrate their resources on the remaining 70% who have not early voted. This thirty-percent increase in efficient use of resources helps the Obama GOTV even out the Repug advantage.

The Experience Canard

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 04:34 GMT

The Audacity of Desperation campaign has long featured slams against Senator Obama's purported lack of experience. Putting aside for the moment how General Powell expertly turned the experience issue against the McCain/Palin ticket, a reality-based examination of the facts shows Obama with more experience than most of the 42 men who have held the office. Not enough? then consider on foreign policy, he's got more experience than four out of the last five Presidents had when they entered office. Still not enough? Well, then consider that "experience" has been as much a predictor of failure as President as any other factor.

John Wilson recently took a look at the facts behind the Repug's experience cackles against Senator Obama. As Mr. Wilson put it: "there are two problems with the attack on Obama's inexperience: it isn't true, and it doesn't matter."

Because the MSM has decided that reviewing the facts is an inefficient way to cover this election, let's spend a moment first taking a look at Senator Obama's resume and experience.

He's a graduate of Columbia University, with a BA in Political Science. His concentration was in international relations and his senior thesis was on Soviet nuclear disarmament.

After Columbia, he worked for as a Writer/Researcher for Business International Corporation (now a part of London's Economist). There he analyzed overseas markets for multinational clients of the firm and wrote for the “Business International Money Report”.

From there, in 1984 he went to the New York Public Interest Research Group, a non-partisan organization that promotes consumer, environmental and government reform. At the NYPIRG, Obama organized student activists at City College in Harlem.

After spending a year at NYPIRG, in 1985 he moved to Chicago, where he became Director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Greater Roseland on Chicago's South Side. While director, he grew the DCP staff from 1 to 13 and their budget from $70,000 to $400,000.

In 1988, Senator Obama entered Harvard Law School. At the end of his first year, based on his grades and a writing competition, he became an editor of the Harvard Law Review. The following year, he was elected President of the law-review, a full-time position in which he supervised the publications 80 editors. During the summers, he worked as a summer associate at a couple of Chicago's prestigious international law firms. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in 1991

Following law school, in 1992, he ran Chicago's Project Vote. They registered 600,000 new voters under Obama. From there, the University of Chicago offered him a fellowship, which he used to work on the book that became Dreams of My Father. The fellowship morphed into a teaching position and for over ten years he taught Constitutional law at the law school.

For a portion of the time that he was at the law school, Obama also worked as a civil rights attorney with a Chicago law firm.

In 1996, Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate, in which he served for eight years. Among other things, he was Chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee.

One wouldn't know this from the "liberal elite" MSM coverage, but while in the state senate, Obama earned a reputation for achieving tough legislation by working in a bi-partisan manner. There, he led a successful bipartisan effort to pass the broadest ethics-reform legislation in 25 years, and gained bipartisan support for his successful bills reforming death penalty interrogations and ending racial profiling by police. He also worked with Republicans to reform welfare and sponsored successful bills expanding tax credits and child-care subsidies for low-income working families, protecting overtime pay for workers, expanding health care for children, and providing job skills training for juveniles.

From 1996 through 2002, Obama sponsored over 800 bills in the Illinois State Senate.

In 2004, Obama was elected to serve in the United States Senate. But even his Senate resume is obscured or mispresented in the MSM. In the Senate, he is a Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs. He's visited 17 countries in those capacities.

In addition, he is a member of the Senate Committees on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and on Veterans' Affairs.

Senator Obama shares responsibility for the bipartisan Coburn-Obama Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, requiring full online disclosure of all entities receiving federal funds, and the bipartisan Lugar-Obama Cooperative Proliferation Detection, Interdiction Assistance, and Conventional Threat Reduction Act of 2006, deepening non-proliferation work with WMD and including surface-to-air missiles, land mines, and other weapons that may be used by terrorists. He also worked with Coburn to end the abuse of no-bid contracts in the wake of disasters.

Thomas searches of the 109th and 110th Congressional sessions reveal that, while in the US Senate, Obama has sponsored nearly 300 bills, and been a co-sponsor on nearly 1,000 more. (In the same period, John McCain sponsored a little more than half what Obama sponsored (about180 bills) and co-sponsored less than half of Obama's numbers (around 400).)

I'll bet even those of you supporting Obama didn't know some of this. For the life of me I can't understand why Obama hasn't used some of his small-donation fortune to publicize this impressive record.

So, how does all of this stack up against the troublesome world of fact?

In terms of experience in elected-office, Senator Obama's 15+ years in elective office puts him ahead of 22 of the 42 previous Presidents. Indeed, as Mr. Wilson points out, it gives him more experience in elective office than "that of Ronald Reagan (eight years as governor), Jimmy Carter (four years in state senate, four years as governor), Dwight Eisenhower (no political experience), and Harry Truman (10 years as US senator, one year as vice president)."

Counting only experience in Washington, Obama has more Washington experience than 20 of the prior holders of the office. In short, as Mr. Wilson puts it, "[i]n terms of his experience, Obama would be a typical president."

Foreign policy experience important to you? Well, Senator Obama has served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during his entire tenure in the Senate and has visited 17 countries in that capacity. He's got more foreign policy experience than four out of the last five Presidents -- More than Jimmy Carter, more than Ronald Reagan, more than Bill Clinton, and more than that miserable cretin now sullying the office.

That last bit may not be entirely fair -- as Mr. Wilson also points out -- the dry drunk now in office had the benefit of the advice from two Americans with the greatest of experience in foreign policy -- Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, and look how well that turned out.

So, the experience lie laid bare, how about this -- Wilson compared his review of the experience levels of former Presidents, with a recent evaluation of the success of those Presidential administrations. In 2005, the Federalist Society and the Wall Street Journal selected what they called an "ideologically-balanced" group of 130 prominent professors of history, law, political science and economics to rate the presidents. They then "adjusted" the results to reflect the ideological leanings of the respondents.

Of the top ten-ranked presidents from that survey -- 7 had less experience than Obama. And the worst? All of the five "failed" Presidencies -- the worst Presidents -- featured men with more experience in elected office than Senator Obama.

So, with the experience canard put to rest, maybe McCain and the repugs can start talking about something meaningful, something that is actually important, something with substance. But that's not likely to happen, instead we will hear about Ayers, and Wright, and the socialism canard, anything but reality. Because reality is deadly to Repug prospects.

I'm Voting Republican

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 06:41 GMT

The Audacity of Desperation

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:32 GMT

From the smell of the nascent General Election campaign, the Rove-inspired Repugs are trotting out the old reliables -- fear, personal attack, and deflection by deception. I suspect that this "Audacity of Desperation" (to coin a phrase) may become another irregular series here.

On of the latest is a riff by the evil queen of deflection by deception, Michelle Malkin. She all but labels the National Council of La Raza a bunch of racists. The NCLR is the largest, and arguably, one of the most respected Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organizations in the country.

In today's column, Malkin spews out "15 Lies About the NCLR". (Well, maybe it has a slightly different title, but my screen is already turning a brownish-yellow from going to that page and I don't want to turn back again.) Before turning to her bag of burning dogshit, she "explains" to us why the organization is borderline racist:

Only in America could critics of a group called "The Race" be labeled racists. Such is the triumph of left-wing identity chauvinists, whose aggressive activists and supine abettors have succeeded in redefining all opposition as "hate."

Both Barack Obama and John McCain will speak this week in San Diego at the annual conference of the National Council of La Raza, the Latino organization whose name is Spanish for, yes, "The Race."

Uh, no. Either Ms. Malkin is a lying moron, or believes her readers are gullible morons. (Either way, there be morons aplenty over there.) Anyway, as Ms. Malkin surely knows, the organization's name was drawn from the 1926 essay by Mexican philosopher José Vasconcelos called "La Raza Cosmica" ("The Cosmic Peoples"). In that essay, Vasconcelos proposed that the world was conglomerating into what he called a "fifth race" -- representing the commingled product of generations of inter-racial unions. He envisioned a resulting new world order, which he called Universópolis, from which a "new era of humanity" would emerge. Vasconcelos particularly referred to the Latino peoples of the Americas as being, not a single race, "but a conglomerate of races and types". Latinos, went his theory, carried the blood of most of the worlds peoples in their veins and were therefore particularly well-suited to participate in his imagined transcendence of the "old" order dominated by notions of race and nationality.

From this essay, and the concept of a peoples -- a humanity -- transcending tired notions of race by embodying the best of all of the mixed cultures which formed them over generations -- "La Raza" came to symbolize not a monolithic, separate race, but (as the NCLR site puts it) "the mixture inherent in the Hispanic people. This is an inclusive concept, meaning that Hispanics share with all other peoples of the world a common heritage and destiny."

But the facts are just too inconvenient to the desperate status that wingnuts like Malkin see when they look to November. So, instead of dealing with substantive issues, out of audacious desperation, they rely on the twisting of meaning to create something sounding racist out of a slogan drawn from a nearly 100-year old pamphlet trumpeting the coming displacement of racial purity with a humanity and order which moves beyond race itself.