thepeoplechoose's Blog

thepeoplechoose Commented on Slide Show of the the 17 Richest Members of Congress by wendy davis

2009-11-20T18:07:57Z

It isn't actually impressive because it is a small dataset. The picture presented from such a small sampling can easily lead to a false conclusion. The 15 of 25, by your own statement is in all likelihood a more true reflection of the situation. Not that it matters much. They all got more money than me.

thepeoplechoose Commented on Slide Show of the the 17 Richest Members of Congress by wendy davis

2009-11-20T11:45:40Z

It is interesting to note that of the top 25 richest members of congress, 15 are Democrats.

Of the poorest 25 only 3 are Repubublican.

Democrats: 317 Members

MinSum $987,852,389.00
MaxSum $3,269,933,622.00
AvSum $2,128,892,937.00

Republicans: 217 Members

MinSum $415,276,769.00
MaxSum $2,193,261,270.00
AvSum $1,304,268,966.00

Independents: 3 Members

MinSum $814,091.00
MaxSum $3,605,996.00
AvSum $2,210,043.00

Others:

Name Min Max Average
Mary L. Schapiro $11,248,083.00 $42,056,000.00 $26,652,041.00
Hillary Clinton $7,244,016.00 $35,664,000.00 $21,454,008.00
Eric H. Holder $4,557,024.00 $18,431,000.00 $11,494,012.00
Steven Chu $3,445,052.00 $7,781,000.00 $5,613,026.00
Eric K. Shinseki $1,512,089.00 $4,574,998.00 $3,043,543.00
Shaun L.S. Donovan $1,469,007.00 $6,098,999.00 $3,784,003.00
Arne S. Duncan $1,364,033.00 $3,210,000.00 $2,287,016.00
Timothy F. Geithner $785,025.00 $1,878,000.00 $1,331,512.00
Peter R. Orszag $691,030.00 $1,918,000.00 $1,304,515.00
Lisa P. Jackson $455,028.00 $1,300,000.00 $877,514.00
Hilda L. Solis $346,006.00 $765,000.00 $555,503.00
Thomas J. Vilsack $224,021.00 $1,518,999.00 $871,510.00
Janet A. Napolitano $186,025.00 $740,000.00 $463,012.00
Ray LaHood -$64,985.00 $354,997.00 $145,006.00
Ken Salazar -$145,993.00 $939,994.00 $397,000.00

thepeoplechoose Commented on Bye Bye public higher education?? by matyra

2009-11-20T10:46:41Z

Everybody loses.

Except Wall Street and a few other untouchables. Each of which are and have been out of control for quite some time.

Can there be a clearer indication that we have greedy assholes running this country?

thepeoplechoose Commented on SOUL EATING BASTARDS (or the Health Insurance Industry) a new story... and you all thought I had gone away. by O¿O in the crowd

2009-11-20T02:36:52Z

This so sucks. I guess there is no point in having insurance. Insurers take your money and then weasel out of paying. That is repeated over and over. And our government lets them do it. And we pay government too.

You see a pattern here?

thepeoplechoose Commented on Tell me sweet little lies by Donal

2009-11-19T01:31:39Z

Exactly.

thepeoplechoose Commented on American Politics in One Lesson by DF

2009-11-18T20:45:27Z

It will have to be proven that the policies we now adhere to are ill-considered. The only way that will be proven and accepted is for those polices to continue to bring about our further decline. Eventually it'll register on the dumbasses like Roberts that he has it all wrong. The recipients of the product of our country has to be regular workers for the simple reason we comprise probably 90% of the population. If an economic unit of any design at all can't fulfill the needs of the majority, the country will fail. A country cannot sustain itself if a major portion of the product it produces goes to 10% of the population.

thepeoplechoose Commented on LIES & BROKEN PROMISES by dickday

2009-11-18T20:20:23Z

Pandering to idiots. I have no patience for that.

thepeoplechoose Commented on Tell me sweet little lies by Donal

2009-11-18T20:16:29Z

The physics hasn't changed. What has changed is physicists, scientists and engineers are well along the road of figuring out how to solve the technical hurdles of making a controlled fusion reaction possible. Just about every scientific discipline known to man is involved and everything has to be invented for the very first time. This is the most significant challenge science has ever undertaken. By a huge margin. Nothing else is even close. They still have a long way to go. They will get there though. There are too many people working on this and it is too important for mankind to think they won't. It feels evident to me that we can't survive without solving this puzzle. A stable and reliable energy source isn't something we can get along without.

thepeoplechoose Commented on LIES & BROKEN PROMISES by dickday

2009-11-18T19:50:48Z

Leaders all across the globe need to have a respect for each others customs. When we visit them and when they visit us the visitor accommodates the customs of the host country. In Japan and China a polite bow is the U.S. equivalent of a handshake when it is between leaders of equivalent stature.

thepeoplechoose Commented on Tell me sweet little lies by Donal

2009-11-18T11:12:28Z

Coal and natural gas fracturing are both lauded as cost effective but I seldom see a realistic assessment of the environmental damage and the healthcare costs associated with pollutants from these processes. Burning fossil fuels in any form is not the way to go. Not when we have available technologies which are comparatively benign in environmental and healthcare terms.

In the near term wind, solar, nuclear fission and others will suffice. In the long term though nuclear fusion will provide the real answer to the energy puzzle. However, that will take until 2030 or later to become a reality. Governments worldwide need to contribute more to this effort. They are doing a lot in several countries, the U.S. included, but it isn't near enough. World population growth and energy provisioning are on a collision course and that needs to be solved as soon as possible.

thepeoplechoose Commented on LIES & BROKEN PROMISES by dickday

2009-11-18T10:23:48Z

Good call Lis. Objectively, FOX News falls in the concoction catergory I referred to. And it is sure to be fatal. It speaks volumes about the decline of our society that a prime time news program can so consistently do what they do and still be on the air.

I have a fond memory of the days when honesty, facts and knowledge were things we valued. The breakdown of our society has a clear correlation between what occurred on Wall Street, in congress, with our regulatory agencies and what FOX News does. This pattern leads to certain failure. We have already witnessed some and you can be sure there are more to come. Probably much worse. Just connect the dots.

thepeoplechoose Commented on LIES & BROKEN PROMISES by dickday

2009-11-18T08:06:10Z

A concoction of both is fatal.

thepeoplechoose Commented on LIES & BROKEN PROMISES by dickday

2009-11-18T08:03:50Z

Pretty much everything we have endured and which has harmed every American is connected to someone having stated an untruth.

Sometimes when people state an untruth it is a lie.

And then we have dumbasses.

thepeoplechoose Commented on America's Innovative edge...is it heading off a cliff ?? by cmaukonen

2009-11-17T02:30:33Z

You have it exactly right. I think that is where government comes in. Government has to tell these idiots to knock it off. And when one or another wants to file a lawsuit the courts need to tell them to go piss up a pipe. Just think what it would be like if this was a worldwide patenting process enforcable across borders. Nothing would ever get done with all the lawyers going nuts.

It comes back to what I said earlier. You have all these universities and companies working on research with a common base of knowledge. They are all going to the same place on the same road at the same time, independently, just like on a highway. They will each get to that place. Nobody can own the knowledge gained along the way or what they do with it. That is a load of manure. Knowledge is universal. Nor can you own explicit uses derived of the knowledge because the knowledge defines what you can do. What we have is a roadblock to human creativity that prohibits solving problems we all face. We are all here doing the same thing simultaneously so it is obvious we'll all be evolving the science in the same way. Arguing over who owns it is dumb. It is all derived from human thought. How can you patent that?

thepeoplechoose Commented on America's Innovative edge...is it heading off a cliff ?? by cmaukonen

2009-11-16T17:50:34Z

It's interesting you mention the GE tactics about patenting etc which are exactly the kind of thing I was referring to below. With so many individuals and companies working on common technologies there has to be a limit to patenting things that are logical conclusions of a common research effort being conducted worldwide. All these companies are working from a common base of knowledge and to specify one or another has a unique idea in the application of that knowledge is a load of manure. And because the bigger companies have gobs of money to spend for legal purposes you can easily have persons who have a great idea but because of a patent can't apply the knowledge gained through their own research. This is a real mess.

thepeoplechoose Commented on America's Innovative edge...is it heading off a cliff ?? by cmaukonen

2009-11-16T16:09:35Z

When you look at the craziness of our patent system you are presented with a clear example of how knowledge is being increasingly locked up by corporations and made inaccessible. This is an alarming trend. It runs in concert with the increasing costs of a good education in our universities where research is being conducted and sponsored by government and the private sector but is held very closely by those who wish to commercialize it for profit.

All of this is occurring in the backdrop of an explosion of activity in the scientific realm that holds the key to the future. The goal of monetizing knowledge is harming everyone and will continue. I am sure you will see the partitioning of information and knowledge grow and cut off creativity for anyone who can't afford the price of admission. Knowledge is the currency of this century. You can't miss the certainty of this. You need only look at how government and corporations are seeking more and more sources and locking it away for their own use as they see fit. Every single time someone makes a new account on a service on the Internet their information and their ideas are out their for anyone to see and read. The value of this is staggering.

thepeoplechoose Commented on Democrats set to adopt Republican "Always vote against Democrats" strategy by William K. Wolfrum

2009-11-16T14:04:23Z

Actually I think it is more like democrats and republicans always voting against citizens strategy. Their collective actions always seem to end with citizens getting the short end of the stick. That is hardly the fault of only one. When these 535 people fail they fail as a country. Not as a party or as individuals.

thepeoplechoose Commented on Why is the rule of law important? by Cal Soldier

2009-11-16T07:48:34Z

I see no indication the rule of law holds any particular importance (any more). All indications are that our laws are only enforced as it is politically or financially expedient. That has very much become the standard for law enforcement and for our regulatory agencies. Equity in law has long since disappeared from the national landscape and I don't expect it to ever return.

thepeoplechoose Commented on Health Reform Bill: Top 14 Provisions That Take Effect Immediately by OldenGoldenDecoy

2009-11-16T06:46:00Z

And here. The core issue of cost containment isn't near adequately addressed. We are still stuck with systemic inefficiencies the same as always.

Not to mention I will die before I am required to participate in a system that forces my participation and allows money from that participation to be channeled to congress via insurance industry PACs and the like. There is a big problem with this if I am legally required to pay and then money from that is used to influence my representatives in ways which will assuredly be disadvantageous to citizens. That is absurd.

That feels very much like the middle class being legally required to commit political suicide. Fuck that.