Call your Representative today

Here is the complete report.

This table was taken from Moody's Economy.com and it shows how a every dollar the government spends on...tax cuts, say, translates to $1.03 into the economy (wow, what an investment!) while $1 into infrastructure spending = $1.59 into the economy. The things will do the least for the economy are the things that the Republicans are pushing for and the things that will do the most are the things that the Nellies (Nellie the Elephant? Get it?) are ridiculing the Dems for--money for food stamps, transportation, family planning...

The watered down stimulus package has passed the House and is on the way to the Senate. Call or write your Senators if you want to see more infrastructure spending. It's easy! Trust me; I do it all the time!

Find your Senator

Open letter to any Democratic politician who will listen

The Democrats have a tremendous amount of political capital and a mandate from the country to effect change, so PLEASE do not roll over and concede to the Republicans on the pending stimulus package. We need more infrastructure spending and less tax cuts if we are going to have any hope of turning this economy around. (Just ask the economic experts.)

If Democrats don't want to be ejected again--2010 could look a lot like 1994--then they need to start enacting some real Democratic-platform policies, not watered down Republican policy. Remember, the Republicans got spanked, so, Democrats should grow a pair and start acting like they WON. A wise man once said, "Elections have consequences."

More Thoughts on the Inauguration

Wasn't Michelle cold wearing that dress and walking all over the capitol in the freezing cold? I hope she was at least wearing comfortable shoes.

President Carter looks good. He looks as young as Pres Clinton (who has been looking a little haggard of late). But then again Ted Kennedy was looking pretty good earlier in the day too...

What was up with that poet? Did they not audition for that job? And is Aretha the only black lady that can sing? Patti LaBelle is probably cursing her name. ("That bitch gets all the good presidential gigs!")

Hope (or, Inaugural Cheesiness)

I've been feeling buoyed all day, and then for some reason I felt compelled to switch from MSNBC to Fox (Chris Mathews is kind of a dufus), and of course Fox would rather show W's self-congratulatory speech in Midlands Texas than the parade of bands, military regiments and sundry groups making their way past the White House.

sigh.

But back to to the Day....! Yippeee. I haven't really been feeling as excited during the build up to the inauguration--not as excited as I felt like I should I guess--but as the main events unfolded--Aretha sang, the strains of John Williams' "Air and Simple Gifts" and President Obama's speech--I welled up a number of times and have felt all day like a big weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

One more cheesy link of the day. I kinda liked this video called "I Pledge", a professed open letter to Obama pledging celebrity support for Obama's call to service.

I promise to return another day with more cynicism.