Tag: politics

Mo’ Money, Mo’ Money, Mo’

No, not THIS Michael Jackson, but the one from homeland securitySo, another top, highly paid official is leaving the Bush Administration, because he needs to make more money. This is on the heels of Tony Snow, recently White House Press Secretary, who left earlier this month because he “ran out of money.” He said he took out a loan to make ends meet, and can’t support his family of five on $168,000. That’s more money than 93% of U.S. households earn each year.

So now, another public servant who has been sucking $168,000 out of the federal trough has also had to give up public service.

“The simple truth, however, is that after over five years of serving with the president’s team, I am compelled to depart for financial reasons that I can no longer ignore.”

What is this guy saying? He is compelled to depart for financial reasons he can’t ignore? Hunh? Can’t live within his significant means? This is a guy that was called “whip smart when it came to budget and operational details, a real manager.” Yet he can’t figure out how to live on a salary higher than 9 out of 10 Americans. Like does he gamble? Lose a bunch of money in the stock market? In over his head with a subprime mortgage? Owe money to a loan shark? Bought alot of travel on his credit cards?

Or maybe he lost everything in Katrina and is suffering from a slow recovery process. Oh wait, it was his department that caused that whole mess. Enough worry about Katrina victims when you are having your own money trouble. Yeah, go get another job.

(c) 2005-2016 Doctor of Thinkology. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons License.
Posted on by docthink 0

No Mas, No Match

My sibling called.

Sib: Mom’s dead.
Me: silence
Sib: Still.
Me: Oh, it’s that social security thing?
Sib: Yup. The hospital, ambulance and nursing home are all on me to pay the bills that Medicare is refusing because Mom is dead.
Me: How is she?
Sib: She’s doing great. She is getting out of her room more, and the nurses said that she is interacting more with the other residents.

See, the Social Security Administration has randomly decided that Mom is dead. In fact, they have her pre-deceasing my dad by two weeks.

I say random, because they can’t say how they decided that Mom is dead. Except for this type of error happens all the time. They don’t have a death certificate (since she’s not dead, yet), or a call from anyone. She just appears dead in their records, and they can’t identify why.

This is the type of error that causes SSA to take money that you are entitled to–and in fact NEED–from your bank account. It is the type of error that doesn’t surface when you go to their offices in Roseville, Mich., to check on your widow’s benefits. When Mom and Sib were in the offices, about 5 weeks after they thought she was dead, nobody mentioned her demise.

Social Security requires an in person verification that you are still alive. They say you need to come to their offices. See, the burden of proof is on you. But since Mom was in the hospital, they generously agreed to comes see her to clear this up. Their representative seemed to recognize that she was still alive. Yet here we are, almost a month later, and she is still dead in some records.

This is the same Social Security Administration that we are asking to provide correct information to crack down on illegal immigrants working in the U.S. Do you think that they might get it wrong? That people working in this country legally will be fired or unnecessarily investigated–at a big cost to our economic engine–because the no-match info from Social Security is faulty?

Me: So do you need me to do anything with this Social Security mess?
Sib: No. But once they decide that Mom is alive, they will probably decide that she is illegal and have her sent to Mexico.

(c) 2005-2016 Doctor of Thinkology. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons License.
Posted on by docthink 0

And ANOTHER Thing, Fredo

Really goofy picture of Gonzales looking like a Campbell Soup kid.I don’t know why I can’t let go of Alberto, but here I go again.

Who the hash-browns does Alberto Gonzales think he is?

I often remind our fellow citizens that we live in the greatest country in the world and that I have lived the American dream. Even my worst days as attorney general have been better than my father’s best days. —From resignation statement of Alberto Gonzales

I don’t know, but I bet his dad had some pretty damn good days. He was a construction worker, husband and father of eight. Maybe he had a great day when he married Alberto’s mom. Or when the kids’ were born.

Or maybe, he had a pretty good day when his son went to the Air Force Academy or was accepted to Harvard Law School, especially since Alberto was the first of his kids to go to college. He didn’t live to see his son work in the White House or serve as Attorney General, so we can’t count those.

Maybe the elder Mr. Gonzales once had a great day playing with his kids or was extremely satisfied with a day’s worth of bricklaying. Or making a mortgage payment or putting money down on a winning horse. I don’t know about the man. But I have a really hard time believing that Alberto’s worst days were better than his father’s best. Like Fredo didn’t know that he had a bad day?

Like I said, I don’t know, Mr. Gonzales, and his, perhaps. challenging relationship with his dad. But it seems to me–and I might be wrong–that he might be stretching out the difficulties of his dad’s life or the best of his own worst.

Okay, done with Gonzales.

(c) 2005-2016 Doctor of Thinkology. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons License.
Posted on by docthink 0

Remains Of A Three Legged Stool

Dear Members of Congress,

Thank you for taking the time to fight over the renewal of the terrorist surveillance law. You know, the one that gives all oversight for executive branch spy agencies eavesdropping to the executive branch (seems a bit circular, no?). The Senate guys among you have decided to agree with the Exec that it takes too long to get an emergency court order to spy on people in the U.S. Despite the lack of any real examples that support that assumption. Maybe just a gut feeling?

We know that the executive branch thinks this is a good idea–heck, they proposed it! And the judicial branch doesn’t have a say. So, it’s up to you in the legislative branch to do your job and provide a check and balance to the executive branch by letting the judicial branch do their job.

I know, when the President says TERRORIST the knee-jerk reaction is to buckle to whatever formula he proposes. But you guys need to remember that the Prez is not boss over you.

According to the first three articles of our nation’s founding rules, there are three equally powered branches of our government. And, through the separation–and interleaving–of powers as conceived by James Madison and Co, there exists a precarious balance of power.

I believe Madison when he says it’s pretty important to have judicial oversight of the executive branch. It’s the legislative branch can see that this happens. My dearest Members of Congress, any abdication of your constitutional role–to the manipulations of an increasingly imperial president–means that you are weakening the judicial leg of the stool, as well as your own.

Our government can’t stand on only one leg. So stand up yourselves and prop up the wobbly judicial checks on the executive before the stool collapses.

Sincerely,
Doc Think

(c) 2005-2016 Doctor of Thinkology. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons License.
Posted on by docthink 0

Wagging the Finger

Okay, this really made me laugh today.

The next day, according to Roll Call, “[Heath] Shuler, a former NFL quarterback [for the Redskins], was spotted towering over a seated Gohmert, wagging a finger in his face during the heated session.” The furious Shuler [D-NC] was yelling at Gohmert [R-TX] for being a “gutless chickenshit thief” and was apparently barely able to keep from stomping the little Republican’s skull

Thank you, Wonkette! I needed that today.

(c) 2005-2016 Doctor of Thinkology. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons License.
Posted on by docthink 0

If It Walks Like a Duck

From the Washington Post

Throughout [his 34-year career], Wolfowitz built a reputation as a foreign policy iconoclast, a mild-mannered intellectual with a steely ideological core, and an inept manager.

and

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the source voiced admiration for his intellect but said Wolfowitz “couldn’t run a two-car funeral.”

and

After Bush’s [43] election, …Wolfowitz wanted to return to the State Department, but…secretary of state, Colin L. Powell, turned him down as his deputy. They weren’t “ideologically in sync,” Powell later said, and Wolfowitz was notoriously lacking in the required administrative skills.

Is anyone else seeing a pattern here? So, okay, if Paul Wolfowitz was known to be a lousy administrator, why would he be put in charge of a multinational institution owned by more than 180 governments, with 10,000 employees, and $14.6 billion (U.S.) in loans in 2006 (World Bank, Annual Report 2006)?

Is it for the same reason that we suffered internationally with John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations? That we think we know the best? That other countries can be ignored or insulted? That international institutions should be dismantled? That America’s interest du jour trumps all?

While I strongly support George Washington’s postulate that every nation works to protect it’s own interest, we need to see those interests in 21st century terms. We are no longer bound by oceans or mountains. We are joined by instantaneous communications, rapid travel, and a global economy.

I am constantly trying to get the 12-year old and the 15-year old to look beyond the noses on their faces, to extend their vision toward the horizon, to move beyond the here and now.

It’s not us against the world. It’s us AND the world.

(c) 2005-2016 Doctor of Thinkology. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons License.
Posted on by docthink 0

Friends Like These

Boy, I was surprised today when I heard that our good friend, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, said,

In beloved Iraq, blood is flowing between brothers, in the shadow of an illegitimate foreign occupation, and abhorrent sectarianism threatens a civil war. (Article)

One of our biggest allies calls U.S. presence in Iraq “illegitimate,” in his remarks to his fellow Arab leaders at a summit. Pre-summit talk was that King A has been establishing a greater leadership role in the Middle East. Bet that the Administration was hoping for more supportive remarks. There was a pretty quick response from the White House. It seems, though, that the fissure with our friends in the mid-East grows.

Speaking of trusted friends turning on you, did you see Kyle Sampson–former chief of staff to troubled AG Gonzales? In discussing his old boss

I don’t think the attorney general’s statement that he was not involved in any discussions about U.S. attorney removals is accurate. (More on PBS NewsHour)

WOW! We have one taking the fifth, and this one flat-out contradicting his boss. What price loyalty?

Then there was President Bush at last night’s Radio and Television Correspondents’ Annual Dinner, joking among his “friends” in the media.

Well, where should I start? A year ago, my approval rating was in the 30s, my nominee for the Supreme Court had just withdrawn, and my Vice President had shot someone. (pause….) Ahhh, those were the good old days. (Complete transcript)

Yes, what a difference a year makes.

(c) 2005-2016 Doctor of Thinkology. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons License.
Posted on by docthink 0

Parsing Words

Here’s what got to me today.

Scolinos (Communications Director for Justice) also said there is no evidence that meeting participants reviewed a draft memo on the firing plan…….According to Scolinos and her deputy, Brian Roehrkasse, there is also no evidence that individual U.S. attorneys were discussed at the meeting. (Wash Post, 3/24/07)

There is no evidence that has been produced by the source under investigation–AKA the Department of Justice. Are they saying that there are no written records from that meeting? People at the meeting don’t know what they said? There is evidence, but it has not been forthcoming.

Enter the White House, unwilling to provide testimony, under oath, with a transcript which provides a record of “evidence.” Just have a little discussion in a room, off the record, no note-taking to clear up any misunderstanding.

Here is where we are. (1) There is no evidence, and (2) The Administration is not willing to provide evidence.

Doesn’t seem right to me.

This administration, as previous and future administrations, needs to be accountable for its decisions. Between “no evidence” and people not being able to recall what went on at a meeting, who knows? Who knows how decisions are made in our government?

Doesn’t seem right to me.

(c) 2005-2016 Doctor of Thinkology. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons License.
Posted on by docthink 1

Who Misses Rummy the Most?

Well, for years folks had been calling for the resignation of Don Rumsfeld. See here, here, and here for examples.

Now that he’s gone, it looks like somebody new has taken his place–POTUS long-time confidant and current Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales is on the top of the To Go menu.

The NYTimes, et al., chronicle politically motivated firings of political appointees, extra-curricular spying via a supra-Patriot Act, a starring role in warrantless eavesdropping and, of course, the Administration “interpretation” of the Geneva convention and humanitarian treatment of prisoners. Roll it up and you have some prime motivation for clearing the top of the deck at Justice.

I miss a Rumsfeld press conference. His sarcasm and disdain, while bad for public policy, did make for some diverting moments. Mr. Gonzales has been less than forthcoming, and much less entertaining

Somehow, though, I think that Fredo (AKA Alberto G.) wishes Rummy was around even more than me.

(c) 2005-2016 Doctor of Thinkology. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons License.
Posted on by docthink 0

Family Affair

That “great” expert, Liz Cheney (aka daughter of the VP), is sniping at Hillary in the Post today. I will wait a second while you read it.

Liz, like her dad, uses redirection and name calling to make her point–that anyone who disagrees with the White House Iraq policy is spineless, chicken, misinformed, cowardly, anti-patriotic, and wants to support terrorists on our shores. Whatever!

[Aside: I am tired of supporting the Cheney family. Liz is “former principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs,” and has been at the high-end of the political appointee trough since 2000–with time out for the 2004 campaign and to birth her fifth child. Add up hers and the top federal salary of her husband, #5 at Homeland Security, and we can see how a doting grandmother can keep her five grandchildren close to her in financial security. They had to pull in at least $300K.]

And for all that experience and know-how, we get the regurgitation of the worst, least sophisticated “stay the course and WIN!” arguments.

But why Liz? Why now?

Looks like the Republicans are terrified of Hillary Clinton. A few short days after Hillary throws her hat into the presidential ring, the Republicans trot out a working mother to tell us how awful it would be to have the Senator-mother as the President-mother. Hillary’s favorable numbers were especially good with women. The Clinton campaign must be crowing since they got this early, full-frontal attack.

But back to the issue at hand. Liz, I know you didn’t write the “op-ed,” but let me pose a question. Despite the lack of military service in your family, would you encourage your two sons to fight in Iraq when they grow up? C’mon Liz, break the mold. Be authentic.

(c) 2005-2016 Doctor of Thinkology. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons License.
Posted on by docthink 1