Illusion is everything!

House Dems Prepare To Fold On Obama Tax Cut Deal
tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/12/house-dems-prepare-to-fold-on-obama-tax-cut-...
House Democrats are coming to terms with the fact that a tax cut compromise filled with provisions they despise will pass and be signed into law.
A Florida school cheer: Gimme a C-H-E-A-P!
articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-12-14/news/os-scott-maxwell-poor-schools-12151...
In Florida's latest education news, we find one school so desperate for money that the principal actually tried to charge kids $2 just to attend a pep rally.
We've got spirit, yes we do!
If you've got spirit, fork over two!
99ers Crisis About to Get Much Worse - Blog - OpenCongress
www.opencongress.org/articles/view/2138-99ers-Crisis-About-to-Get-Much-Worse?utm...
I’ve been trying to make the point that the 99er problem — people exhausting all unemployment benefits without finding a job — is about to get much worse because we’re approaching 99 weeks from the brunt of the recession unemployment spike. Congress is not planning to add more weeks of unemployment benefits and the Federal Reserve is projecting the unemployment rate to stay pretty much where it is for the next year. Putting it all together, this means that for the foreseeable future, there will no jobs and no government support for the millions of 99ers.
Still Made in USA.com - American-Made Tools
www.stillmadeinusa.com/tools.html
American Made Tools for Christmas, eh Holidays
Stop the Lies! | American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
www.afscme.org/stopthelies/
Public service workers are not the problem. Attacking public service workers will not create jobs. Attacking public service workers will not solve the problem of trying to save the vital public services that so many rely on.
2012 hopefuls challenged by tax deal - Alexander Burns www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46400.html
For a host of Republican presidential hopefuls, the White House-backed compromise to extend the Bush tax cuts presents an unlikely dilemma: How to agree with President Barack Obama.
Smokers feel the burn in hospital hiring
www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/west-volusia/2010/12/15/smokers-feel-the-b...
Nicotine will be added to the list of drugs the Orange City hospital screens for in its pre-employment process when the new year rolls in. Anyone who tests positive for nicotine or other, illegal substances will not be eligible for employment. But they are eligible to re-apply in six months. Current employees will not be screened for nicotine use.
Locals have hand in donating to Scott's inauguration - ww.news-journalonline.com/news/local/east-volusia/2010/12/15/locals-have-hand-i...
Some companies with local ties were among the contributors, with Radiology Imaging Associates giving $10,000; Delaware North Companies (owner of the Daytona Beach Kennel Club) giving $6,000; and Mori Hosseini's Intervest Construction giving the maximum $25,000.
Commission OKs 2-year FPL rate freeze
www.floridatoday.com/article/20101214/BREAKINGNEWS/101214010/1086/
TALLAHASSEE — The Public Service Commission has approved a two-year freeze in base rates for Florida Power & Light Co., the state's biggest electric utility.The commission Tuesday approved an agreement the company made with consumer advocates four months ago.Base rates can be changed through 2012 only if the company's profit rate falls below 9 percent or tops 11 percent

Americans Scorn Conservative Stimulus Package

www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010125014/americans-scorn-conservative-stimulus-pa...Remarkably, Americans oppose cutting Social Security payroll taxes by two percentage points for all workers – 57% to 39%, with 39% strongly opposed. This is the only real tax cut in the deal for most Americans. ( If you aren’t rich, the rest of the package simply extends current rates.) The message is clear: Americans in large numbers do not want politicians messing with Social Security, even to cut the payroll tax. We can only hope the White House gets the message

Obama's "Tax Holiday": A Poison Pill For Social Security | OurFuture.org

ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010124907/obamas-tax-holiday-poison-pill-social-security
You know what they always say: Pay now or pay later. Middle-class Americans may pay very dearly for the president's tax deal, and at the stage of life when they can least afford it. By providing a temporary cut in the payroll taxes that fund Social Security, this deal starts the nation down a slippery slope that could lead to permanent benefits cuts for the middle class and even more wealth for the rich.
In other words, Obama's "payroll tax holiday" could send the financial safety of America's seniors on a permanent vacation

Champions of the Already Haves | OurFuture.org

www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010124907/champions-already-haves
This was a negotiation in which the wealthiest Americans were represented by a unified Republican Party that put the rich above most Americans, the afflicted and the country. Unified Republican Senators promised to block any action on anything unless the tax cuts on the rich were extended.

Adults deliberately dumbing down language...and putting proper English in peril | Mail Online

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1336310/Adults-deliberately-dumbing-language--p...
Adults mimicking teen-speak are to blame for spreading sloppy English which is putting the future of the language at risk, an expert claimed yesterday.Western society’s obsession with youth has led to older people trying to talk like teenagers, warned Marie Clair, of the Plain English Campaign.

Irish diaspora - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_diaspora
The Irish diaspora (Irish: Diaspóra na nGael) consists of Irish emigrants and their descendants in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa, Brazil and states of the Caribbean and continental Europe. The diaspora, maximally interpreted, contains over 80 million people, which is over thirteen times the population of the island of Ireland itself, which had approximately 6.2 million in 2009 (comprising the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland).

There goes the neighborhood

Obama's "Tax Holiday": A Poison Pill For Social Security | OurFuture.org

ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010124907/obamas-tax-holiday-poison-pill-social-security
You know what they always say: Pay now or pay later. Middle-class Americans may pay very dearly for the president's tax deal, and at the stage of life when they can least afford it. By providing a temporary cut in the payroll taxes that fund Social Security, this deal starts the nation down a slippery slope that could lead to permanent benefits cuts for the middle class and even more wealth for the rich.
In other words, Obama's "payroll tax holiday" could send the financial safety of America's seniors on a permanent vacation

86-year-old Pa. man hunts from recliner, bags buck

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/07/AR2010120704876.html?hp...
ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- Lester Warner left the hospital in a weakened state last month, his frail body wracked by late-stage cancer. At 86 years old, he and his family had decided to stop treatment. But that didn't mean he planned to stop hunting.

Florida budget: State economist warns Florida budget shortfall could top $3 billion - OrlandoSentinel.com

www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-budget-picture-bleak-20101207,0,6157028...
State economists will set their formal taxing and spending expectations for the coming year on Dec. 14. But the preliminary numbers indicate that the budget shortfall Scott and lawmakers must close this spring could surpass $3 billion, up from previous estimates of $2.5 billion. And that's not including any of the $2 billion in tax cuts Scott pledged during his campaign

DREAM Act Hunger Strike Nears Critical 30-Day Stage, Spreads Across Nation | CommonDreams.org

www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/12/07-9
On the heels of a new Congressional Budget Office report that the DREAM Act would reduce the deficit by $1.4 billion over the next decade and public support by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, seven university students in San Antonio prepare themselves to enter their 28th day of a debilitating hunger strike that has now spread across the country.

MoveOn.org Political Action: Block the Millionaire Bailout

pol.moveon.org/no_bailout/index.html
Block the Millionaire Bailout

DemocracyForAmerica.com » No Deal

www.democracyforamerica.com/activities/419?t=e1

Most of us aren't "Fat Cats"

Facebook | Space Coast Chapter ARA Pot-Luck luncheon

www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=152727408106670

Sponsored by Space Coast Chapter of Alliance of Retired Americans
Special guest speaker will be
Debra Booth, district director to Congressman Alan Grayson

Self-Made American Myth #2: Who Makes $250K? | OurFuture.org

www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010114723/self-made-american-myth-2-who-makes-250k

Progressives have suspected for years that working- and middle-class Americans vote for the GOP

 because they have a deeply unrealistic idea about their real chances of becoming wealthy.

 We've joked that working stiffs vote for tax cuts and other goodies for the rich because

 they seriously believe that they're going to be rich themselves someday,

 and want to make sure those advantages will be there for them, come the day.

Federal pay ahead of private industry - USATODAY.com

29

www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-04-federal-pay_N.htm

Overall, federal workers earned an average salary of $67,691 in 2008 for occupations 

that exist both in government and the private sector, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

The average pay for the same mix of jobs in the private sector was $60,046 in 2008, the most recent data available.

Are Federal Workers Overpaid? | FactCheck.org

3

factcheck.org/2010/12/are-federal-workers-overpaid/

Both sides in great pay debate are misleading the public.

Lifeline: Watch the Video and Write Congress

act.aflcio.org/c/18/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1011

Lifeline: Watch the Video and Write Congress

Space Coast Alliance of Retired Americans

Party time, party favors

www.ocala.com/article/20101130/OPINION/101139970/1008/OPINION?Title=Editorial-Pa...
It is there where the scenario becomes troublesome. Scott, who told us his election was "the end of politics as usual in Tallahassee," has set a $25,000 maximum on those donations. Governor Charlie Crist, who cancelled his ball as a gesture to acknowledge high insurance and property tax bills being paid by Floridians, limited donations for his inauguration at $10,000, the same as Jeb Bush four years earlier. Bush's predecessor, Democrat Lawton Chiles, put a $100 cap on inauguration donations

Food Safety Bill Passes the Senate

www.opencongress.org/articles/view/2116-Food-Safety-Bill-Passes-the-Senate?utm_s...
By a bipartisan vote of 73-25, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act has passed the Senate. The bill now goes to the House of Representatives, which is expected to pass it, rather than convene a conference committee, and then send it to Obama to be signed into law before the end of the lame duck session

US Labor Department proposes rule to enhance target date retirement fund disclosures

www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/2010/10-1658-NAT.html
The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration today announced a proposed rule that will help America's workers better understand target date retirement funds and other similar investments offered in 401(k)-type pension plans. The proposed rule would amend the "qualified default investment alternative regulation" and the "participant-level disclosure regulation" to enhance and provide more specificity regarding the information that must be disclosed to participants and beneficiaries concerning investments in target date funds.

Obama Debt Commission Still Lacks Votes as Time Runs out

www.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/us/politics/01obama.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a2
The chairmen of the commission — former Senator Alan K. Simpson, a Republican, and Erskine B. Bowles, a Democrat and former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton — delayed for two days, until Friday, a final vote by its 18 members

Me and my bike, I'm the turkey on the bike

New Health Care Rule: You Get More Care for Your Money

blog.aflcio.org/2010/11/22/new-health-care-rule-you-get-more-care-for-your-money/
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today issued a new rule—known as “medical loss ratio”—that will require health insurance companies to spend 80 percent to 85 percent of your health care insurance premiums on making you healthier instead of overhead costs like advertising or executive pay.

Republicans Could Save $2.4 Million A Year By Forgoing Their Health Care

www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/23/republicans-could-save-24_n_787662.html
WASHINGTON -- Some progressive organizations have been making a push in recent days for incoming congressional Republicans to drop their government-sponsored health care on the grounds that keeping the plans would be hypocritical

TAKE ACTION

Denounce GOP Health Care Hypocrisy

www.dccc.org/page/s/rhc
Incoming House Republican freshman Andy Harris is already complaining that the affordable health care coverage he gets as a Member of Congress -- the same coverage that Republicans want to repeal for hardworking families -- doesn’t start soon enough!

One Week Until Deficit Commission Concludes: Time To Speak Out

www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010114722/one-week-until-deficit-commission-conclu...
The White House deficit commission is expected to vote Wednesday, Dec. 1 on a final report of recommendations. And it will likely not be much different than the draft released by its co-chairs Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson

Vow to Repeal Health Care Holds Little Promise

www.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/us/22iht-letter.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a24
Republicans won a smashing victory in U.S. national elections this month; no issue resonated more with the party’s base than President Barack Obama’s health care legislation. The House Republicans’ “Pledge to America” vowed “to repeal and replace the government takeover of health care with common sense solutions focused on lowering costs and protecting American jobs.” The party won more than five dozen seats, the most in seven decades.
There is no chance this pledge will be achieved. 

Let the Party begin!www.pnj.com/article/20101120/OPINION/11200302/1020/Editorial--Let-s-%28not%29-ge...
After an eight-year hiatus, Scott is resurrecting the inaugural ball, with two days of festivities around the state to celebrate his swearing in on Jan. 4

He doesn't want us over for dinner, HE WANTS TO HAVE US FOR DINNER!

My Generation=The Who

Scott Maxwell: Florida's failed tax policies have our economy in the tank - OrlandoSentinel.com

www.orlandosentinel.com/news/columnists/os-scott-maxwell-corporate-taxes-1121201...

If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting 

a different result, then Florida politicians are downright deranged.

Facebook | FIREFIGHTERS PARTNER WITH TOYS FOR TOTS

 AND SALVATION ARMY FOR HOLIDAY TOY COLLECTION

www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=165377888632&topic=14590

FIREFIGHTERS PARTNER WITH TOYS FOR TOTS AND SALVATION ARMY

 FOR HOLIDAY TOY COLLECTION by Palm Bay Fire Rescue on Friday,

 November 19, 2010 at 10:04am

Could She Reach the Top in 2012? You Betcha 

2

www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/opinion/21rich.html?_r=1

It’s anti-elitism that most defines angry populism in this moment, and,

 as David Frum, another Bush alumnus (and Palin critic), has pointed out,

populist rage on the right is aimed at the educated, not the wealthy.

 Repeal health care? Give up your own first!

2

act.credoaction.com/campaign/gop_healthcare_hypocrites/index2.html?rc=fb_share2

For 2 years, GOP leaders in Congress fought tooth and nail to oppose health care reform. 

They did their best to keep tens of millions without coverage, decrying any effort

 to help citizens as "socialist," "fascist" or some other equally baffling "ist." And incredibly,

 they are now talking about repealing it

New Deficit Reduction Plan from Bipartisan Group - NYTimes.com

2
www.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/us/politics/17fiscal.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a24
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group will present a deficit-reduction plan on Wednesday that goes beyond the spending cuts and tax proposals from the chairmen of President Obama’s fiscal commission. It also calls for a one-year holiday from Social Security payroll taxes to encourage hiring and for a national sales tax to reduce deficits

health insurers pay big to defeat public option but pushed mandate to require all to buy their products

www.healthinsurance.org/blog/2010/11/18/86-2-million-to-kill-public-option/
A story on Bloomberg reveals that the leading health insurance industry group – America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) –funneled $86.2 million to an effort by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to oppose the recent health care overhaul and the public option.

AFL-CIO NOW BLOG | Health Coverage Declines But Companies’ Profits Soar

blog.aflcio.org/2010/11/16/health-coverage-declines-but-companies-profits-soar/
The lousy economy hasn’t had much of an impact on six of the nation’s biggest private health insurance companies which saw their profits increase by 22 percent over last year in the quarter that ended in September, according to a new analysis by Health Care for America Now! (HCAN).

World Comparison Shows U.S. Healthcare Lacking | CommonDreams.org

2
www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/11/18
The study is the latest in a series by the non-profit Commonwealth Fund showing that while Americans pay far more per capita for healthcare, they are unhappier with the results and less healthy than people in other rich countries

McCollum, Bondi solicit GOP support for federal health care lawsuit | Post on Politics

www.postonpolitics.com/2010/11/mccollum-bondi-solicit-gop-support-for-federal-he...
Attorney General Bill McCollum and his successor Pam Bondi are urging fellow Republicans throughout the country to join his lawsuit against the federal government over the new federal health care law.

John Bouman: Americans Want Health Care Reform to Go Forward

www.huffingtonpost.com/john-bouman/americans-want-health-car_b_783861.html
But out here, when the issue is reduced to kitchen table reality, people don't think ideologically or politically. They think about their own health care, their families' health care, and their own financial circumstances

Nobody's Buying The Cut-Social-Security Line | OurFuture.org

www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010114618/nobodys-buying-cut-social-security-line
In fact, according to a poll released today by Celinda Lake, not even a majority of your Tea Party loyalists, with their "Taxed Enough Already" signs, are supporting the idea that Social Security benefits need to be cut as part of a deficit-reduction plan

The Truth About Health Insurance Premiums | FactCheck.org

5
factcheck.org/2010/11/the-truth-about-health-insurance-premiums/
Not true. The Kaiser report gave absolutely no indication that “health care costs will skyrocket under ObamaCare.” It found that premiums for families with employer-sponsored health care plans rose a modest 3 percent in 2010, but workers’ share of the cost jumped 14 percent as companies shifted health care costs to employees during the recession. None of those increases had anything to do with the new federal law.