From a Wall Street Journal article, GOP, in Attack Mode, Tries to Avoid Obstructionist Label, on July 24, 2009:

"On Thursday, House Republicans cheered the failure of a key House committee to move health-care legislation for yet another day, and held their own hearing focused on market-based ideas for reducing health-care costs. House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio told reporters a Democratic proposal to require employee coverage 'is going to raise the cost of employment, which is going to mean less employees in America.'" 

 

What does Boehner think has been happening in America for the last 30 years?  We're already there.  Why does he think corporate America has been shipping jobs overseas?  Because they can't afford health care/health insurance expenses in America.  Apparently, Boehner hasn't spent much time in his home state of Ohio.

 

Quotes like this prove the Republicans have no idea what's really going on. 

 

Fifteen months into this presidential campaign I’m sick of it all.  Sick of the candidates hammering away at each other as another state’s contest rolls nearer.  Sick of the media echo chamber presuming to speak for the American people.  Sick of Republicans and Democrats. Sick of endorsements and ads.  And sick of hearing who got “thrown under the bus.”

Let me tell you.  It ain’t Patti Solis Doyle or Barack Obama’s grandmother.  It ain’t Jeremiah Wright or Mark Penn.  It sure ain’t George Stephanopolous or Charlie Gibson.

It’s the American people.

While elected officials try to determine whether or not to endorse and mainstream media personalities chatter on about the latest trivial non-issue, we the people are gasping for breath out here.  We can’t afford to fill up our cars and buy groceries.  We’re praying no one in the family gets sick or has an accident.  We’re hoping we can make the next mortgage payment while Charlie Gibson is worrying about his capital gains tax.  Honestly!  And it’s been like this for years.

I say it’s time we throw our political elite and media mavens under the bus.  Vote ‘em out and unplug the radio and TV.  Enough is enough.

Everybody has a story, but for rural America and small towns, nobody's bothered to tell ours --  for years.  That's why the media's in an uproar over Obama's "bitter" remarks.

Once again Obama's pointed out the elephant in the room.  Average voters  are angry and bitter.  Listening to his comments explained in real terms the phenomena I've questioned for 30 years -- why my friends and neighbors have consistently voted against their own economic interests to support conservative candidates.  They just don't believe government can make a difference in their life.

MSM likes to pretend to pay court to rural/small town America with occasional heartwarming stories about how a communitiy pulls together to help residents in need.  And we do because we figure no one else will.  But these media tributes only leave the rest of the country with an idyllic picture of a life that's been in decline for years. 

However, if the media acknowledges that, gasp, they might have to admit (again, since they've had to come to grips with their pre-Iraq coverage) that they ain't been doin' their job!

What a relief to hear a national figure speak the truth we feel every day!  We are angry; we are bitter.  A lot of folks out here have just given up.  Then, there are others who are working their butts off to make a difference and change things, against all odds.

And in regards to the charges from Clinton and McCain,I think a lot of voters on the ground are going to start asking how if Obama is an elitist with $1 million, what are Clinton and McCain with $100 million each in the bank?  Frankly, I think anything that gets candidates talking about the state of real Americans' lives is a good thing. 

I wrote earlier in the week about the latest embarrassment from my representative, Steve King, (His entire congressional career has been an embarrassment!) and a robocall my husband received from the Clinton campaign.  My husband is an Obama alternate for tomorrow's county convention.

This week, he's received two robocalls and a mailer asking him to support Hillary at the county convention.  So they are going after pledged delegates.  But I believe this tactic will backfire here for several reasons.

First, Iowans have a strong sense of fair play.  They endured a long, active run to the caucuses, and they made their decisions then.  They won't take kindly to another blast of calls and materials.  And they'll look askance at anyone dishonoring the votes they cast Jan. 3. 

Second, the Clintons are strongly disliked by voters here.  At our precinct caucus, voters were open to supporting other Democratic candidates, except Hillary.  I don't believe the Clintons have a realistic view of how average Americans see them.  If they did, I don't think they'd continue this campaign.

Finally, the Obama campaign has been masterful at continuing communication with supporters in Iowa.  So much so, that we have continued calling, canvasing, donating and interacting with campaign staff here and across the country.  For example, Wednesday night, Senator Obama had a conference call with all his precinct captains.  On the other hand, a friend who is a Hillary supporter noted she never even received a thank you after delivering our county to Hillary. 

All things considered, I think it's entirely possible going after pledged delegates could cost Clinton delegates here.  Especially given all the negative campaigning in recent weeks.

I am sick of hearing from whiney women about how sexist everyone else is.  Enough already!

I’ve spent a lifetime listening to self-proclaimed feminists pontificating about how the world hates women.  And I’m a woman.

I grew up the youngest of three sisters with one brother.  My oldest sister gave me a “Sisters Unite” t-shirt, complete with raised clenched fist, that I lived in at age 8.  And when I was in college, my brother’s girlfriend gave me a “69 cents” t-shirt that I wore at least once a week.  My college roommate also referred to me as “Woman” because I insisted it was condescending for people to refer to us as girls at 18-plus years of age.

In graduate school, I pointed out to two of my professors that I felt there was some bias involved in providing older, single guys with teaching assistantships that put them on their own in classrooms, while some of us women were overlooked or given graduate assistantships pairing us with professors. 

I’ve witnessed or experienced bias all my life.  But I didn’t whine about it.

I simply spoke honestly when appropriate and went on to do the work, whatever it was.  And I tried to do it better, smarter and more completely, acting as a person first.

So the Geraldine Ferraro flap sent me over the edge.  I’ve been seeing for months whiney, self-righteous, bloviating statements and posts all over the Internet about how Hillary Clinton is so discriminated against.  Cry me a river!

This woman has floated along on her husband’s coattails.  Experienced!  Only if you give her credit for her husband’s years in office.  And what kind of “feminist” takes credit for her husband’s resume?  Shouldn’t she do it on her own? 

In reality, Clinton’s only served seven years in public office.  And her resume of “working for change” includes one year with the Children’s Defense Fund.  Most of her working life has been as a corporate attorney, and there are some questions of conflict of interest with that experience.  Yet the mainstream media has given her a pass on her resume and tout her “experience” versus a man with nearly 11 years service as an elected official, plus years of public service as a community organizer, civil rights attorney and teacher.

But because she’s a woman, other women refuse to look at her as a person and evaluate her more broadly.  I’ve seen post after post by Taylor Marsh, Kathleen Reardon and Roseanne Barr, among others, touting the knee-jerk reaction that everyone is a woman-hater.  Can they not comprehend that some of us are choosing to evaluate the candidates based their resumes, experience and skills?  That we’re evaluating them as people?  That perhaps Hillary being a Clinton is more of a detriment to her candidacy than the fact she’s a woman?

I’m tired of women who want to blame all their troubles on how someone else perceives their gender.  I’m a human being. 

I live in Iowa's 5th District and have the misfortune to be represented by Rep. Steve King.  Ever since the disastrous brokered Republican convention that led to his election, I've battled his office on numerous issues.  And I'm not alone here in Western Iowa.

Thoroughly embarassed by events this weekend, I called his Washington office this morning to demand his immediate resignation.  As I've come to believe the man is completely without shame, I don't expect anything to come of it.  But he will not be re-elected.  Even in this knee-jerk Republican part of Iowa, he's become an embarassment.

On another note, I can verify the news that the Clinton camp is now seeking pledged delegates.  My husband is the Obama alternate to our county convention this Saturday, and he received a robocall from the Hillary Campaign stating, "We need your help."

I believe these tactics will ultimately backfire, at least here in Iowa.  Clinton might want to ask how many of her own supporters will she lose with such actions.  Has she forgotten the Clinton precinct captain who deserted to Obama after the Muslim e-mails circulated and Bill Shaheen was forced to resign? 

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person – or if we wait for some other time.  We are the ones we have been waiting for.  We are the change that we seek.” --   Barack Obama

I take this 2008 presidential race personally.  Yes, I have chosen to support Barack Obama with my time and money.  But let me tell you why.

In June 1998, my family and I came back to Iowa to visit my parents at their farm.  During that week, I drove my parents to Nebraska Methodist Hospital Oncology Center for their comprehensive check ups.  Mom, who was battling colon cancer, had now developed two tiny spots on her liver.  And Dad, who was a five-year survivor of pancreatic cancer, was holding his own, but barely.  The long-term outlook for both was not optimistic.

Later that week, my dad and I sat at the picnic table in the backyard talking about what would happen to the farm.  He shared his disappointment that Iowa had never developed the economic opportunities to keep his three daughters and one son closer to home.  He also mourned the loss of rural culture.  That conversation, Dad’s deep disappointment and cracking voice, have stayed with me.

A little more than a year later, Mom and Dad were gone.  We spent two years sorting out the estate.  My older sisters inherited 80 acres of farm ground, the land where Dad had grown up, now rented and farmed by our cousin.  My brother and I (the younger two) inherited the farm and house where we’d grown up.  My brother, who was best suited to live here and maintain the place, searched for employment, but ran straight up against all the economic factors Dad lamented.  So my husband, a special education teacher, found a job, and we moved almost two years after dad’s death.  I was not upset to leave my corporate job behind and concentrate on our kids, then ages one and 13.

I did not anticipate what happened next.  Six months after returning to the place of my birth, my neighbors approached me about becoming a write-in candidate for school board.  Knowing the abysmal turnout for school board elections, I said, “Sure.”  Much to my surprise, I won the election, and the work has been non-stop ever since.  (For the record, school board directors are not paid in Iowa.) 

In addition to taking on school board leadership, I ended up with leadership roles in my Methodist church and a historic preservation group.  The new work included:  starting an after-school program at the church, writing and administering grant dollars, helping our school district develop a vision, establishing 501(c)3 status for the preservation group, and on and on.  On top of this, my son entered and graduated high school and my daughter went from toddler to elementary school.

Behind it all, though, replaying in my brain was that conversation with Dad.  I had returned to this place I love, disappointed to see so little had changed in the 18 years I’d been gone.  Decline was the only change.  And I was surrounded by people discouraged and confused – too cynical or worn out to fight for change.  Many didn’t know where to begin.

Yet I returned at a good time.  A few stalwart leaders are building some things here:  exploring economic development, opening small businesses, and pooling resources.  We’re beginning to show people that, “Yes we can” make a difference, whether it’s picking up the neighborhood or reopening a park.  But it’s a battle every day to get people to work for change; to believe it’s possible. 

So it’s exciting to see a national leader, who has lived this same experience, speak this truth and ask us to believe in ourselves.  Because until we decide to make America a better nation and to work for it, nothing will change.