Democrats
One year after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, life has not returned to normal in the Gulf.
With all the angst about the economy, the deficit, and a looming government shut-down, I'm still concerned that we're treating symptoms rather than diagnosing the underlying disease.
I know something about this. I spent a week in the hospital last year having loads of tests done -- blood work, heart scans, stress tests, and sonograms. I was discharged without a diagnosis, merely with hopes that by treating the symptoms, whatever was wrong would go away. It didn't. It turned out my real problem was a tick-born disease, and once it was diagnosed, a ten-dollar prescription of antibiotics cured me. Without that ten-dollar prescription to treat the real problem, I could have experienced life-long disability.
In a credit to both Republicans and Democrats, Congress just passed a measure that will avoid a government shutdown for at least the next two weeks. This means that there is still time to protect the poor and most vulnerable during the budget debate.
Congress is working on the federal budget for the rest of the fiscal year 2011.
Many members of Congress and their staffers have had friends and loved ones call to check on their personal safety.
On my way back to Pennsylvania after attending Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity in Washington, D.C. last Saturday, I couldn't get one sign out of my head which read, "It's too bad we even need a rally to restore SANITY."
You have to wonder -- when political ads focus on a college prank pulled by your opponent -- what else could that money have gone to?
It's midterm election time. How are you going to vote? Well, it's obvious, isn't it? Your side -- whichever it is -- is the only one that will save America from utter financial and moral collapse. The other side -- whichever it is -- is full of liars and hypocrites controlled by unscrupulous cabals who, for financial reasons, are willing to ruin the common man. And woman.
Last week, I asked you all to tell FOX News that when it comes to truth and civility, they can do better. Thousands of you did. You aren't the only ones who see things getting worse than ever before. This week, a group of more than 130 former legislators, both Republicans and Democrats, released a letter urging for civility and encouraging candidates, once elected, to focus on cooperation to face our country's greatest challenges.