Robert Reich's Vetting vs Sarah Palin's

Robert Reich's Vetting vs Sarah Palin's

She wasn't vetted at all

Vetting

Having been through the process of “vetting” prospective cabinet members, I can tell you it’s time-consuming, detailed, and thorough. I’d like to think the vetting of a vice presidential nominee would be more so – especially one whose odds of becoming president, should she be elected, are somewhat higher than that of the normal vice president.

Sixteen years ago, Bill Clinton’s “vetting” team asked me and other prospective cabinet members for (1) our tax returns, going back at least five years, (2) our bank records, (3) a detailed listing of our assets, (4) the names and places of everywhere we had lived, and the names and phone numbers of neighbors whom they could call about us, (5) a description of every job we had ever had, every client we had ever served, and the names of employers and clients with whom they could check, (6) the names of our family members, their ages, their occupations (if any), (7) a description of any civil or criminal investigations or prosecutions in which we had been involved (8) and – perhaps most importantly – “anything we should ask you about, the answer to which might cause you or the administration any embarrassment.”

It didn’t stop there. Investigators checked our answers, interviewed our friends and neighbors and former employers, asked for more records if uncertain. Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation did their own background checks. Staff members of the relevant congressional committees, representing both parties, looked over the files and added questions of their own.

It didn’t even stop there. I recall two large, three-ring black binders containing passages from books and articles I had written that might prove troubling to some of the Senators. My vetting team suggested I be prepared to answer questions about them.

The process took well over a month, not including the Senate confirmation hearing. I don’t recall doing anything during that interval except responding to questions from the vetting team, the FBI, and oversight committee staffers, both Republican and Democrat.

Do you believe Sarah Palin was put through anything remotely like this before John McCain decided she would be his vice presidential candidate, and possible President of the United States?

http://robertreich.blogspot.com/

You Should Vote Republican if You Believe the Following:

By Bob Kendall
09/01/2008 06:55:52 PM EST

1. We should all be proud of going to war in Iraq on the basis of lies and distortion.

2. We should not worry a second about the skyrocketing national debt, which is greater than all the national debts combined since the U.S. was founded 232 years ago.

3. The best reason for having children in the U.S.A. now is because they can be saddled with paying off the bill (our national debt) that Republican hero George Bush has gifted us with.

4. You should demand that Bush speak at your convention so he can glibly explain how he achieved this monumental debt.
   

5. If you enjoy watching wars on TV -- pleased consider that Iran may be next on the busy Republican war agenda.

6. If you want to avoid socialism vote Republican. Bush tried valiantly to privatize Social Security to give Wall Street a break. Maybe McCain will be lucky as Wall Street investors lead the way.

7. If you would like to help China, India, the Philippines or even Bangladesh we could go right on transferring our jobs overseas. This could advance stock market revenue because labor costs are cheaper overseas, without all that environmental and safety silliness.

These are the seven lucky reasons to be a family values Republican voter this time around. We must also add that you'll get a woman vice-president thrown in, a really tough babe, a hunter who appreciates a good family moose meal, especially one she killed and cooked!

http://www.politicalcortex.com/story/2008/9/1/185552/4709

An Open Letter to God, from Michael Moore*

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

Dear God,

The other night, the Rev. James Dobson's ministry asked all believers to pray for a storm on Thursday night so that the Obama acceptance speech outdoors in Denver would have to be cancelled.

I see that You have answered Rev. Dobson's prayers -- except the storm You have sent to earth is not over Denver, but on its way to New Orleans! In fact, You have scheduled it to hit Louisiana at exactly the moment that George W. Bush is to deliver his speech at the Republican National Convention.

Now, heavenly Father, we all know You have a great sense of humor and impeccable timing. To send a hurricane on the third anniversary of the Katrina disaster AND right at the beginning of the Republican Convention was, at first blush, a stroke of divine irony. I don't blame You, I know You're angry that the Republicans tried to blame YOU for Katrina by calling it an "Act of God" -- when the truth was that the hurricane itself caused few casualties in New Orleans. Over a thousand people died because of the mistakes and neglect caused by humans, not You.

Some of us tried to help after Katrina hit, while Bush ate cake with McCain and twiddled his thumbs. I closed my office in New York and sent my entire staff down to New Orleans to help. I asked people on my website to contribute to the relief effort I organized -- and I ended up sending over two million dollars in donations, food, water, and supplies (collected from thousands of fans) to New Orleans while Bush's FEMA ice trucks were still driving around Maine three weeks later.

But this past Thursday night, the Washington Post reported that the Republicans had begun making plans to possibly postpone the convention. The AP had reported that there were no shelters set up in New Orleans for this storm, and that the levee repairs have not been adequate. In other words, as the great Ronald Reagan would say, "There you go again!"

So the last thing John McCain and the Republicans needed was to have a split-screen on TVs across America: one side with Bush and McCain partying in St. Paul, and on the other side of the screen, live footage of their Republican administration screwing up once again while New Orleans drowns.

So, yes, You have scared the Jesus, Mary and Joseph out of them, and more than a few million of your followers tip their hats to You.

But now it appears that You haven't been having just a little fun with Bush & Co. It appears that Hurricane Gustav is truly heading to New Orleans and the Gulf coast. We hear You, O Lord, loud and clear, just as we did when Rev. Falwell said You made 9/11 happen because of all those gays and abortions. We beseech You, O Merciful One, not to punish us again as Pat Robertson said You did by giving us Katrina because of America's "wholesale slaughter of unborn children." His sentiments were echoed by other Republicans in 2005.

So this is my plea to you: Don't do this to Louisiana again. The Republicans got your message. They are scrambling and doing the best they can to get planes, trains and buses to New Orleans so that everyone can get out. They haven't sent the entire Louisiana National Guard to Iraq this time -- they are already patrolling the city streets. And, in a nod to I don't know what, Bush's head of FEMA has named a man to help manage the federal government's response. His name is W. Michael Moore. I kid you not, heavenly Father. They have sent a man with both my name AND W's to help save the Gulf Coast.

So please God, let the storm die out at sea. It's done enough damage already. If you do this one favor for me, I promise not to invoke your name again. I'll leave that to the followers of Rev. Dobson and to those gathering this week in St. Paul.

Your faithful servant and former seminarian,

Michael Moore

P.S. To all of God's fellow children who are reading this, the city New Orleans has not yet recovered from Katrina. Please click here for a list of things you can do to help our brothers and sisters on the Gulf Coast. And, if you do live along the Gulf Coast, please take all necessary safety precautions immediately.

* E-mail received 8/31/08

Food safety: Priority for Next President
Seems like the least he can do for his people is keep them alive

Texas Department of State Health Services
NEWS RELEASE
July 17, 2008

Non-Outbreak Salmonella Detection Prompts Recall

A South Texas produce importer/distributor is voluntarily recalling avocados, serrano peppers and jalapeno peppers after laboratory tests by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) laboratory and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services lab found salmonella in samples of those products from the company.

But DSHS officials said the salmonella strain found in serranos and jalapenos tested by DSHS is not the strain responsible for the nationwide outbreak of salmonellosis over the past two months.

The outbreak strain is salmonella, group B, type saintpaul. The salmonella detected in the peppers DSHS tested is salmonella, group C1. The North Carolina lab found salmonella in avocados and jalapenos, but results of tests to identify the group and type are pending.

DSHS and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are overseeing the recall being done by Grande Produce, Hidalgo.

The detections were made in ongoing efforts to find the source of the salmonella causing the national outbreak. The DSHS lab has tested some 70 food products for salmonella in recent weeks. The only two found to be contaminated were the serranos and jalapenos from Grande.

DSHS and FDA are working to identify where the avocados, serranos and jalapenos from Grande were shipped and where and how the recalled produce was contaminated. The company’s clients are being notified to pull the products.

Consumers and food services personnel are reminded to wash any fresh fruits and vegetables thoroughly before eating or serving.

Officials said the findings and subsequent recall are limited to those specific products from Grande Produce. At this point, they do not apply to all avocados, serranos and jalapenos on the market, to products from any other distributor or to Texas-grown produce in general.

-30-

"McCain Proposes a $300 Million Prize for a Next-Generation Car Battery"

The stupidest idea to date!
This falls into hair brained schemes!

FRESNO, Calif. — In the 18th century the British offered a £20,000 prize to anyone who figured out how to calculate longitude. More recently, Netflix offered a million dollars for improving movie recommendations on its Web site. Now Senator John McCain is suggesting a new national prize: He said here Monday that if elected president he would offer $300 million to anyone who could build a better car battery.

The high cost of gasoline — a gallon of regular was selling for $4.65 at a gas station near California State University, Fresno, where Mr. McCain spoke — has made energy policy a big issue in this year’s presidential campaign, and barely a day has passed recently without one of the candidates weighing in with new energy policies, proposals and attacks on opponents.

Mr. McCain, of Arizona, alienated some environmentalists last week during a speech in Houston when he dropped his opposition to allowing offshore drilling for oil; this week, in a swing through California, he spoke about trying to wean the nation from its dependence on oil. He called for improving the enforcement of fuel economy standards, building more cars that could run on alternative fuels, dropping the tariff on imports of sugar-based ethanol from Brazil and offering big tax credits for nonpolluting cars.

“I further propose we inspire the ingenuity and resolve of the American people,” Mr. McCain said, “by offering a $300 million prize for the development of a battery package that has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars.”

He said the winner should deliver power at 30 percent of current costs. “That’s one dollar, one dollar, for every man, woman and child in the U.S. — a small price to pay for helping to break the back of our oil dependency,” he said.

The Obama campaign countered by noting that Mr. McCain had voted against improving fuel efficiency standards in the Senate. Jason Furman, the Obama campaign’s economic policy director, said in a conference call that Mr. McCain had been focused on “meaningful relief for oil companies that are struggling with record profits.”

In his speech in Fresno, Mr. McCain called for automakers to act more quickly to build so-called flex-fuel vehicles than can run on alternative fuel. He approvingly cited the example of Brazil, which he said had moved to building 70 percent of all new vehicles that way in just three years, and he issued a not-so-veiled threat to automakers.

“Whether it takes a meeting with automakers during my first month in office, or my signature on an act of Congress,” he said, “we will meet the goal of a swift conversion of American vehicles away from oil.”

And Mr. McCain emphasized one of his differences with Mr. Obama, without mentioning him by name, by restating his opposition to subsidies for corn-based ethanol, which Mr. Obama supports.

“As taxpayers, we foot the bill for the enormous subsidies paid to corn producers,” he said. “And as consumers, we pay extra at the pump because of government barriers to cheaper products from abroad.”

Mr. McCain, who spoke against corn-based ethanol when he ran for president in 2000, said this time around that he became a supporter of it when oil grew too expensive, but he has said he still opposes subsidies for ethanol.

While the McCain and Obama campaigns were sparring over energy, Mr. Obama was in Albuquerque, where he focused on the economy and working women, a critical constituency. He journeyed deep into the prosaic land of gut-level economics at the Flying Star Café Commissary, where talk of globalization and vertical economies yields to “how can I afford to make it through this week and the one after that?”

Speaking to a group of women, Mr. Obama, of Illinois, was offered a glimpse into one of the realities of the American economy: that wages for the working-class have lagged far behind those of upper-income Americans. Some of the women at the commissary, like Carrie Hummel, 28, told of holding down multiple jobs and still barely being able to find the money to pay for gas, much less for her health insurance. “You know, this life is pretty hard,” she said.

Ms. Hummel was followed by a woman who asked Mr. Obama if he would consider waiving taxes on tips, and another who asked about the cost of college tuition, which has risen at a rate far outstripping inflation.

Mr. Obama offered a variety of proposals, including requiring employers t0 provide seven paid sick days for all employees (he has not specified the size of the employer) and extending the Family and Medical Leave Act to cover any company with 25 or more employees (the act now applies to those with 50 or more employees).

He also criticized Mr. McCain over his opposition to legislative action to help bring wages of women up to those of men. The McCain campaign fired back, saying the legislation to do so would have been a boon to trial lawyers, who have supported Mr. Obama’s campaign.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/us/politics/24campaign.html

Vonage Cancellation Numbers
So very hard to find!

It's unfortunate that Vonage makes it so hard and frustrating to cancel your account or port your number to another provider. This is documented throughout the internets. Just Google Vonage and customer care, etc. There are other reports that they "Can't do that".

Because a lot of folks often change carriers, Vonage has managed to delete themselves now from my ever returning to them due to the hassle. The original issue is that my ISP is not reliable. When the computer's down so is Vonage and one's left with neither computer nor "home" phone. Having a cell phone as a back up is very helpful.

Customer Care = 1- 866-243-4357 (1-VONAGE-HELP)
M - F 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. Eastern time

Cancellation Department = X - 55862 He didn't know the main number to call that goes with this extension.

Other numbers:
1 888 510-1820
Vonage UK 0808 168 1000

You talk with multiple people who keep repeating themselves. You need to have the following information available. Some of it's found in your online account

Phone number

Security number

Pin

Year service started

That you need to have changed to another provider, FIRST, which I'd already done. That stumped him.

You need to understand foreign accents.

The conversation ended with me laughing as I know what I have to do. I need to call during business hours and stop at the bank and close the account from which this is being debited.

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