Center Right, Center Left

post from TalkLeft on 05 November 2008 10:43:00 AM. © TalkLeft

Via Yglesias, Fox News declares America a "Center Left" country:

Via Sirota, Ruth Marcus proves Broder still rules the Beltway World. Here's the thing, if the Beltway takes Obama's platform and declares it Center Right, hell even Far Right, I will not complain. But they won't. That is Far Left to these bozos. Their contempt for the American People is disgusting.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

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The Obama Moment - America Looks In the Mirror
and Celebrates

post from Open Left - Front Page on 05 November 2008 10:40:11 AM. © Open Left - Front Page

The day after Election Day is always a time for reflection (and coffee, Pepto, wheat toast, and[...]

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Cheers and Jeers: President-elect Obama Wednesday

post from Daily Kos on 05 November 2008 10:37:08 AM. © Daily Kos

From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE...

Things to listen for in the near-future:

"I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States..."

"In the news today, President Obama called on Americans to..."

"The Obama administration says it's tackling the issue aggressively..."

"Republicans condemned/accused/attacked President Obama today..."

"The House and Senate have passed, and President Obama signed, sweeping legislation..."

"The first question of this and all future press conferences will go to Helen Thomas. Go ahead, Helen." "Thank you, Mr. President..."

"President Obama's cabinet picks have been hailed as smart, shrewd, and diverse..."

"For the first time in years, polling shows that Americans feel like the country is on the right track again..."

"President Obama, with the backing of General Petraeus and the Iraqi government, announced significant troop reductions this week..."

"Once again, the Republican effort to mount a filibuster failed miserably..."

"After two weeks on the job, Republicans called for Obama's impeachment today, and were literally laughed out of the chamber..."

"OPEC panics as Obama White House announces massive alternative energy push..."

"You're watching Alaska Cable Access Channel 2. Welcome to Hockey Talk with your host, Sarah Palin..."

Who'da thunkit?

Cheers and Jeers starts in There's Moreville... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]

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Brien Lundin: Is Gold Holding a Wild Card

post from Jutia Group on 05 November 2008 10:35:09 AM. © Jutia Group

Source: The Gold Report

As difficult as it may be for precious metals investors to sit on their hands, that may be the best “action” for surviving this hazardous transition from deflationary to inflationary times. In this exclusive interview with…

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WHAT WE LOOK LIKE.

post from Ezra Klein on 05 November 2008 10:32:00 AM. © Ezra Klein

John Judis has a great piece revisiting the idea of the Emerging Democratic Majority and outlining the composition of the majority political coalition that took shape before us last night. In a way, his piece is the analytical cousin of Adam Serwer's[...]

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http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=11&year=2008&base_name
=what_we_look_like

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An Idea Whose Time Had Come

post from Taylor Marsh on 05 November 2008 10:30:33 AM. © Taylor Marsh

BY TAYLOR MARSHcross-posted at Huffington Post Getty Images No one could have beaten Barack Obama this year. It was destiny meeting up with a crack in the facade of time, capped off by the[...]

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A Memo to President-Elect Obama from America's
New Veterans

post from TPMCafe on 05 November 2008 10:30:00 AM. © TPMCafe

Congratulations to President-elect Obama. Both he and Senator McCain are outstanding patriots, and hey, each ran a tough campaign. Now that the race is finally over, it's time to bring America together, and get to work. And there is no shortage of challenges ahead. As one vet at IAVA put it, "The new guy is going to be busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest."

The new guy is definitely going to need the right people around him. One of the most important decisions the President will make regarding veterans is his choice of VA Secretary. President-elect Obama has the option of keeping Secretary Peake, who is new to the job and has already shown himself to be considerably more adept than his predecessor. Another shake-up could possibly slow things down, however.

But President-elect Obama could also pick someone new for the post. Someone transformative. At this point in a blog, you usually see a lot of names get tossed about who'd be likely to get the job. Every pundit likes to imagine their own ideal Cabinet, and they rarely guess right.

So instead of playing guessing games, I'm calling on the new President to convene a Presidential Summit of Veteran Leaders. The key here is having input from the experts: veterans. As the President considers nominations for the appointed positions within the VA, including the VA Secretary, he should bring together leading veterans' organizations, and especially veterans of the current wars, to make sure he's getting the "ground truth" on what we need. Veterans have been consistently ahead of the curve when it comes to everything from armor shortages to TBI, and the new President needs to hear from us. Whoever is chosen should have a proven track record of innovation and reform, and should be ready to address the urgent needs of new veterans.

But a smiling picture of the Secretary on the wall of the VA building isn't going to make a difference alone. Here are the three critical policies veterans need to see from the new President in his first 100 days:

1. Advance-Fund VA Health Care

For the past two years, Congress has been a friend of veterans when it comes to funding their health care. In fact, we've seen the largest budget increases for veterans' health care in 77 years. But year after year, Congress dawdles and the VA budget is passed late, forcing hundreds of veterans' hospitals and clinics to ration care. The President can fix this in one simple step. President Obama should present to Congress an advance-funded VA budget. It won't cost any extra money, it'll just let veterans' hospitals budget knowing how much money they are going to have next year.

2. Implement GI Bill Transferability

This year, IAVA spearheaded the effort to pass a new GI Bill that will make college affordable to veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. It was landmark legislation, and it's no exaggeration to say that it will dramatically change the lives of new veterans, just as it did for veterans of World War II.

The new GI Bill had overwhelming bipartisan support, but as the bill got close to passage, you may remember a big kerfuffle about retention and "transferability." Transferability is a provision that would allow career-military troops to pass their GI Bill benefits to their spouse or children. Not a bad idea at all, but the DOD already had the power to make benefits transferable if they wanted to, so it wasn't necessary to legislate. Nonetheless, it was added to the GI Bill towards the very end of the process of passing the GI Bill.

But in the four months since the GI Bill passed, they haven't bother to issue the regulations necessary to implement transferability. Military families across the country were promised a new benefit. Now they've been left waiting. President Obama must direct the Secretary of Defense to issue the appropriate guidelines, so that GI Bill transferability can be successfully implemented by Fall 2009.

3. Issue a National Call for Mental Health Experts--and back it up with incentives

No one comes home from war unchanged, and hundreds of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are struggling with invisible injuries, like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or depression. This crisis is made worse by the dramatic shortages of mental health professionals in the military and at the VA. Even the Pentagon's own Task Force on Mental Health has called the military's supply of mental health professionals "woefully inadequate."

America's military healthcare system needs innovative strategies to recruit and retain more mental health professionals to combat the high rates of PTSD and major depression among returning troops. President Obama must issue a national call, urging mental health professionals nationwide to make their services more available to military members and their families. It's a time of war, and it's time more Americans were asked to contribute and support out troops.

But psychologists and psychiatrists in the military system make far less money than would with a civilian salary. The President should also direct the Secretary of Defense to increase the incentive pay and retention bonuses for mental health professionals immediately. This will save lives, and save the tax-payers mountains of money in the long run.

President Obama is going to be held to a very high standard by the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. We'll be watching, and holding everyone in Washington accountable.

The pundits will spend the next few days and weeks rehashing the election results. But the American people know we don't have any time to waste. With more troops coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan every day, the President better hit the ground running. So let's get cracking.

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Equality For Me, But Not For Thee

History was made last night. But the historic night was marred by the passage of Prop 8 in California (a similar proposition was passed in Florida with overwhelming African American and Latino support). Particularly troubling was the voting of African Americans in California (and to a lesser extent Latinos) - who voted 70-30 in favor of stripping gay Californians of their state based constitutional right to marry the person they love.

There were a lot of signs last night that declared "We Have Overcome." No, we have not.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TalkleftThePoliticsOfCrime/~3/443345889/452

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Time to boycott Utah, and Marriott

post from AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth on 05 November 2008 10:21:00 AM. © AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth

Reader Dave writes

I'm appalled that Proposition 8 passed, and did so largely because of the out-of-state dollars dumped into California by the Mormon church. We need to do something in response to this. I propose organizing a boycott of the state of Utah, not unlike the boycott of Colorado in the early 1990s. There need to be repercussions for the actions of the LDS church. Thoughts?

dave

In the 90s, we had some real boycotts of states that chose hate over tolerance, and it hurt. Bad. We targeted tourism and conventions, particularly. And it worked. Perhaps we need to revisit this tactic. A lot of people visit Marriotts, and have an easy choice to go elsewhere. And there's great skiing in Colorado too. What are Utah's top industries, top money makers, top companies? What business are connected to the Mormon Church besides Marriott? Who were the top donors to the hate amendment in California? Any big companies? Any donors associated with big name-brand companies? Perhaps it's time to make Utah, Marriott, and the Mormon Church the Cracker Barrel of 2009.

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Obama takes Indiana

Another red state turns blue. Current EV count is 349-162.

Two states still to be called:

Missouri: McCain:1,442,613, Obama: 1,436,745, 100% precincts in, lead is 5868.
North Carolina: Obama: 2,101,991, McCain: 2,089,828, 100% precincts in, lead is 12,163.

Update: As noted in the comments, CD2 in Nebraska also hasn't been called.

Update: Dems pick up ID-1, total pickup is now 19 seats, with 6 seats left to be decided, all current GOP seats. We're currently ahead in 2, and behind in 4, including WA-8, where Darcy Burner is behind 1,500 votes, but with only 41% of the precincts counted. Two other seats in LA will be decided in December.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.demconwatchblog.com/2008/11/obama-takes-indiana.html

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