Even though the GOP is a weak presence in the region’s national politics – no Republican congressmen and only three GOP senators represent New England in Washington – its leaders said at a national meeting last week in Texas that they are preparing a well-funded effort to contest a crowded slate of governors’ races in 2010.

All New England chief executive jobs will be on the ballot next year. In Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, Republican governors will be leaving office, as will Democrat John Baldacci of Maine. Only in New Hampshire, where Democrat John Lynch has yet to draw a serious Republican challenger, does an incumbent appear cer tain to stay on next November.

The competition to fill the open posts – and to unseat Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick – has energized Republicans who see new promise running as an out-of-power party at a moment of voter anxiety.

“We’re talking about jobs and solutions, and seeing the results from Virginia and New Jersey proves it works,’’ said Matt Jacobson, the president of Maine & Company, a business group, and one of 22 announced candidates for the state’s governorship.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/11/25/in_ne_governors_races_gop_sees_a_chance_to_build_on_gains/

fyi I am 17 & live in Texas.

Now the child pornography laws were originally created to protect little kids from being exploited to basement dwelling pedophiles. But these laws were created as strong blanket laws as not only the no good pedophiles were getting arrested but teen couples messing around on their phones were also getting arrested & charged with the same thing.

These teen sexing laws make me sick. I view the creators/supporters of these laws no differently than how you view the Nazis. Both are inhumans that destroy innocent lives.
I’ve engaged in sexting before & if I was caught my life would be completely over. I wouldn’t see the light of day again. I didn’t even know child porn was illegal until I was 15. The schools don’t even teach us about these inhuman laws. When I was 14 I had a long distance British girlfriend that I would have sexted with if we had cellphones at the time & if we were caught our lives would have been over.

Who made these laws? when were they made? does anybody know the names of the sadistic draconian congressmen who thought it would be a good idea to put kids behind bars for seeing their boyfriend/girlfriend naked on the phone?

People have said before it’s because a naked picture of me might end up in the hands of a pedophile. BTW pedophile is an adult that’s sexually attracted to prepubescent minors.
Well I would much rather a pedophile get a hold of a naked picture of me than a police officer. The law will do A LOT worse to me than any pedophile or ugly person could ever do. & honestly if some unwanted person gets a hold of a naked picture of me & fantasizes about me & I don’t ever meet them I don’t give a crap. It’s not hurting me.
Getting charged with child pornography is worse than any other consequence of sexting.
You people think that these laws are protecting kids? Well good job! good job protecting kids from pedophiles by putting them in prison where they will be raped & abused every day. You think that nude pictures they’ve sent will haunt them in the future? well I think that being on the sex offender registry will haunt you pretty badly too. What our kids really need protection from are these draconian laws.

Plus if the kid is a nudist then what’s the difference if someone see’s them naked in a picture?
I’m pretty much a nudist. I don’t walk around naked because I still live with my family. But I would be a nudist if I could.

Now if you do agree with the sexting laws then just say “yes all teens who mess around on their phones deserve prison time & they should be put on the sex offender registry because they are savages”

Our jobs don’t pay it. Few other jobs get regular incremental cost of living raises either, let them use that money to get around.
It’s like “Be a politician… See the world.” In our electronic age it is not necessary for anyone to actually meet face to face… unless SEX IS INVOLVED which as we see is frequently the case.
With Sanford, taxpayers paid to ruin his marriage and break up a family. Should we be taking this up?
Forget travel expenses -I think public servants like governors mayors, congressional reps, senators, judges, et al should be REQUIRED to live modest lives or get out of the public service biz.
Should public service be a get rich quick scheme?
We the people cannot afford to pick up these fringe benefits of governing anymore.
With the money we’d save on almost always unnecessary planes, trains, automobiles, drivers, pilots, limo’s, taxi’s, gondolas in Venice, who knows what else… we could build our country’s people a high speed magnetic-rail train coast to coast north to south and around the perimeter of the entire US!
I’d like to do the traveling… not pay so my congressmen can.
He can do a net meeting or send a fax.
Wouldn’t you like to travel from Florida to NY in a few hours, Texas to Michigan then to San Francisco in a few hours, maybe do a loop around the country?
All’s I’m saying is if politicians are forced to pick up a phone or send a fax instead of FLYING THERE! we might not be in such desperate straights ourselves.
Are you forgetting if the VP and the Pres are out of commission Pelosi is our President.
Cut the woman some slack.

That is what everyone wants to know. The DEMS in congress that lost in Nov are holding up the vote to not increase taxes. They, are pissed at Obama because he is black I guess, and they want him to look bad, since they lost their jobs, they are trying to take Obama down with him. They are holding the American people hostage the poor people who pay 10% Federal tax will see it go up 50% to 15%. The middle class will see their taxes go up from 20-25% to 28 and 33%, and the Rich will see their taxes go up the least as a percentage of their taxation from 35% to 39%. The Dems wanting it sock it to the Rich a little but are holding the poor and middle class hostage. Obama spend the last few days talking to all the economists who told him decided it wasn’t worth it because if they do nothing taxes will increase, he would be potentially sending the economy into a double dip recession.

The Dems who are fighting with Obama and hate him because they lost and his is black don’t seem to care about the economy or how hard the tax increases will hurt 90% of American’s.

It looks like nothing is going to happen until these racist leave office in Dec 31st and the newly elected congressmen who aren’t racist, in fact two are black and several others are minorities will be replacing these trouble makers.

So once again we need to fight the racist Democrats. First the Dems supported slavery, then they didn’t support equal civil rights, and now they won’t support our first black President simply because he won’t do as he is told and is thinking for himself and acting in the best interest of American’s rather than in the interest of a minority of bitter Democrats.

Don’t worry in the end it will all work out. I doubt there will be any adjustments to the bill by Democrats, the only adjustment Obama will not veto will be adjustments suggested by the Republicans. That is a quote from Obama yesterday.

Obama is trying to put together a coalition of Republican’s that will work with him, since so many of these Democrats are racist and don’t care about the poor and middle class.

As an American, how do you like being held hostage by this lame duck congress? Should we pass a law that congress should go on vacation from Nov to end of Dec each year so we don’t have this problem in the future.

How do you like this question BOB and BOB P, and Texas Joe (ask you mom to read it to you) and DT (Disturbed Teabagger) – While my answer is totally slanted it is a great example of how the left deals with the right. How do you racist Obama haters like it?

Maybe those on the radical left should think twice before calling anyone who doesn’t go along with Obama a racist.
I’m being a troll and totally unfair to Liberals because nothing pisses me off more than being called a RACIST! Do you know how many times LIberals have called Conservatives Racist just because we believe in free markets, self determination, the constitution and a color blind society like MLK? I think Obama is the worst president in the last 100 years but NOT BECAUSE he is black. It’s likes of Liberals progressives, in the media an in politics that play the race card to discredit views that they don’t like. Remember Pelosi called the tea party members Nazi’s. Everyone tried to say if you were a tea party member you were racist.

So Obamabot. I’m pissed and sick and tired of the Liberals playing the race card. So i hope the liberals like you, Bob, Bob P, DT and TJ hate being called racist too so you will think twice before doing it again and if someone else does it I would like to see you guys be the first to condemn your fellow liberals for playing the race card. Why don’t you
Hello BOB P – This is Dave. It suprises me not that you missed the entire point of the question. Please have a meeting with your your other Obama haters Obamabot, Bob, DT, and TJ and see if they can explain that what I want is an appoligy for the liberals playing the race card. I doubt you will get the DT to back off I just don’t see any evidence of that.
Darren you missed the point too, I guess you guys don’t watch or read the news. Or you do but don’t understand what you were reading. YES I know the Lame Duck Dems voted in the house to raise taxes on the Rich and not on anyone else. So they are holding the American people hostage in order to raise taxes on the Rich. If we wait until Jan when the new congress is in office the House will vote to NOT RAISE TAXES on anyone and not hold anyone hostage. Obama has agreed to not raise taxes on anyone but the Lame Ducks have refused to back down and are doing it because they are racist against Obama because he is black and they want him to look like a fool. I hope you understand now. The question is should we support a law that says Congress shall take Nov and Dec off every year except in case of an Emergency like a war or something.
Nice try Obamabot – just admit it, you hate Obama cause he is black. Obama rejected the 1million dollar deal and cut a dealmwith the republicans. His economic advisors told him the 1 million dollar deal was too risky for the economy. I thought the dems wanted compromise what gives? Is Obama to uppity for you?

fyi I am 17 & live in Texas.

Now the child pornography laws were originally created to protect little kids from being exploited to basement dwelling pedophiles. But these laws were created as strong blanket laws as not only the no good pedophiles were getting arrested but teen couples messing around on their phones were also getting arrested & charged with the same thing.

These teen sexing laws make me sick. I view the creators/supporters of these laws no differently than how you view the Nazis. Both are inhumans that destroy innocent lives.
I’ve engaged in sexting before & if I was caught my life would be completely over. I wouldn’t see the light of day again. I didn’t even know child porn was illegal until I was 15. The schools don’t even teach us about these inhuman laws. When I was 14 I had a long distance British girlfriend that I would have sexted with if we had cellphones at the time & if we were caught our lives would have been over.

Who made these laws? when were they made? does anybody know the names of the sadistic draconian congressmen who thought it would be a good idea to put kids behind bars for seeing their boyfriend/girlfriend naked on the phone?

People have said before it’s because a naked picture of me might end up in the hands of a pedophile.
Well I would much rather a pedophile get a hold of a naked picture of me than a police officer. The law will do ALOT worse to me than any pedophile or ugly person could ever do. & honestly if some unwanted person gets a hold of a naked picture of me & fantasizes about me & I don’t ever meet them I don’t give a crap. It’s not hurting me.
Getting charged with child pornography is worse than any other consequence of sexting.
You people think that these laws are protecting kids? Well good job! good job protecting kids from pedophiles by putting them in prison where they will be raped & abused every day. You think that nude pictures they’ve sent will haunt them in the future? well I think that being on the sex offender registry will haunt you pretty badly too. We need to protect kids from these laws. These laws are inhuman & need to be changed. We need to turn these blanket laws into net laws.

Plus if the kid is a nudist then what’s the difference if someone see’s them naked in a picture?
I’m pretty much a nudist. I don’t walk around naked because I still live with my family. But I would be a nudist if I could.

Our jobs don’t pay it, unless we are using our own car.
Few other jobs get regular incremental cost of living raises either, let them use that money to get around.
It’s like “Be a politician… See the world.” In our electronic age it is not necessary for anyone to actually meet face to face… unless SEX IS INVOLVED which as we see is frequently the case.
With Sanford, taxpayers paid to ruin his marriage and break up a family. Should we be taking this up?
Forget travel expenses -I think public servants like governors mayors, congressional reps, senators, judges, et al should be REQUIRED to live modest lives or get out of the public service biz.
Should public service be a get rich quick scheme?
We the people cannot afford to pick up these fringe benefits of governing anymore.
With the money we’d save on almost always unnecessary planes, trains, automobiles, drivers, pilots, limo’s, taxi’s, gondolas in Venice, who knows what else… we could build our country’s people a high speed magnetic-rail train coast to coast north to south and around the perimeter of the entire US!
I’d like to do the traveling… not pay so my congressmen can.
He can do a net meeting or send a fax.
Wouldn’t you like to travel from Florida to NY in a few hours, Texas to Michigan then to San Francisco in a few hours, maybe do a loop around the country?
All’s I’m saying is if politicians are forced to pick up a phone or send a fax instead of FLYING THERE! we might not be in such desperate straights ourselves.
You only have to travel to someone else if you are trying to sell something. Conducting business can be done via net meeting or fax just as well. Though not as fun.

According to AOL there are 1.4 million Americans who have exausted all benefits up to Tier 4 yet some states like Texas can’t even get tier 4.

http://www.aolnews.com/article/2010-unemployment-extension-faq-tier-5-99ers-explained-and-de/19555874

There are 1.4 million Americans called 99ers. 1.4 million families is a lot who exausted 99 weeks. I’ve been on unemployment in Texas and I didn’t even get the full 93 weeks. I was shorted by about 30 weeks after using up all my tiers from the state because they say “UP TO 93 Weeks”.

So all these congressmen who are saying 99 weeks is more than enough time, most of the 1.4 million families NEVER got 99 weeks. They got UP TO, but most missed the mark because these states are using unemployment wages to calculate what they should qualify for. So they are saying based on your past wages (which are none since you are on unemployment) we are going to short you 30 something weeks. We are also going to count partial weeks as a full week! So if you got a partial week of $50, that counts as one of your weeks in your overall max total of weeks!! Check your records and call your UI office!

My question is will there be a tier 5 or will 1.4 million Americans and their families continue to suffer?

Also how about an extension where you actual get the extension instead of UP TO. This is so misleading, it’s almost an outright scam calling these people 99ers because most are not getting it. Someone should investigate this and writeup a story on it.

Please star this question if you find it a worthy debate.

I am curious. I am not a member of the TEA PARTY. I don’t disagree with them on taxation, but it seems they also seem to have other issues and not all of them I agree with.

I look at how the IRS is getting billions in more funding. I see how audits are skyrocketing, and when we are at our poorest, we get squeezed even harder. Audits cost money for a taxpayer to respond to, it is very much an inquistion. I went through one, and I was squeaky clean. However, I was made to feel like a cheater and criminal in the process, and spent about a thousand dollars on my CPA as he reviewed my records. It was demeaning. I am the people, I am a veteran. I think I deserved respect and got nothing.

I think big picture though. I think about congressmen and senators who say “I represent the little man, I represent the average Joe”

Well, I am the average Joe, and I feel that every single one of my congressmen and senators have ripped me off. Mob rule.

I am just so disgusted. The only guy I look to in congress and give him credit is that guy from Texas, Ron Paul. However, by being in congress this long and not effecting change, one has to wonder if he just uses this position to keep himself in power.

I really think our government is spitting in our faces. I really think it is no longer by the people for the people. I think it is by the people, for the congress.

Is a revolution possible? Should it happen?

I am truly curious, and welcome all views. I believe in respectful discussions. Intelligent answers welcome.

I quote Voltaire. I may not agree with what it is you have to say, but I defend to the death your right to say it.

Thanks!

I hear he’s whining about Pelosi going there. Why isn’t he complaining about Texas-based Marathon Oil retaining oil contracts in Syria – contributing to the Syrian economy – and why isn’t he also complaining about the Republican Congressmen going there?

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0517/p06s02-wome.html

This is in response to The Californian’s March 24 editorial, “Immigration reform that helps growers, consumers, economy.” I have no argument with the view that there could be intelligent immigration reform that could help growers, consumers and the economy. However, I have yet to see anything that comes close from Congress that could accomplish that worthy goal.

When it comes to immigration statistics, the numbers can be, and are, bent to support any position advocated. On this subject, Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, one of the most influential and powerful congressmen on Capitol Hill, stated, “We’ve been duped.”

Let me toss out a statistic that I can only back up from personal experience and the best determination of hundreds of my colleagues in various roles with the former Immigration and Naturalization Service: Eighty-five percent of those granted amnesty under the last legislation meant for special agricultural workers did not qualify for that benefit; many had simply purchased a farm letter.

The bona fide applications for asylum are privately considered even less in numbers. In other words, as communicated to me by a humble Armenian immigrant years ago, “We imported a poverty class.”

The “amnesty” bill was largely written by an INS regional bureaucrat who never met a payroll in his life, nor competed with foreign nationals for your business. Much of today’s legislation is written and promoted for private gain by immigration attorneys who stand to make millions from a new amnesty.

The old amnesty legislation was sold to Congress and the American people with the emphasis that the federal government would get tough on employers hiring illegal aliens; isn’t that the song they are singing today? Illegal immigration a hot topic at the time, but if you were to go to the extensive index of then-President Reagan’s diary, you would not be able to find one entry or comment on immigration whatsoever.

At that time, the attorney general of the United States, while touring the Los Angeles federal building, leaned over and asked a supervisory detention officer, “Who do you work for, son?” “I work for INS,” he answered. The attorney general whispered, “Is that one of mine?”

The INS commissioner at that time famously addressed New Yorkers in a speech: “The first thing I’m going to do is take care of the nasty Puerto Rican immigration problem!” Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens.

Eighty-eight thousand U.S. Department of Homeland Security workers and 200,000 DHS contractors simply cannot clean up the mess created from the last amnesty and now, at a time when our social services are strained to the breaking point, the prisons are releasing violent felons early, the job market is tanking, and The Californian’s “view” is that the time couldn’t be better for another amnesty?

Allow me to make the assertion that it is arrogant and jingoistic to assume that all immigrants are here for a “better life” or fled their native countries. Many I talked to can’t wait to go home once they earn enough money. If money is the underlying reason for the immigration, isn’t it a little shallow of us to assume that money alone is the answer to a better life?

If it is about the money, then let’s make it fair for all. Let’s clear the backlog of immigrants, hundreds of thousands of them who have been waiting for over 10 years to move legally from places all over the world to join up with family, obtain the job that will make their life better and embrace our laws, language and citizenship.

Gregory Meinhardt of Bakersfield is a former immigration inspector at LAX; an immigration enforcement agent based in Los Angeles; senior special agent for immigration and customs enforcement at Port of Long Beach; and national program manager at ICE’s Office of Investigations, policy unit. His opinions do not reflect U.S. government viewpoints, policy, directives or legal positions. Another View is a critical response to a Californian editorial, column or news story.

http://www.bakersfield.com/opinion/community/x2143248567/Immigration-policies-have-led-nation-to-essentially-import-a-poverty-class