Here’s the latest GOP “stall tactic” in a very long parade of stall tactics:

Global-Warming Scientists ‘Need to Go Back to Square One,’ Rep. Barton Says

By Karen Schuberg, March 03, 2010

“Science is verifiable, science is something that can be replicated,” Barton, the ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, told CNSNews.com.

“This whole theory of global warming is just that:  It’s a theory.  It’s based on models.  Models are based on variables, and conditions that the modelers that develop the models put into them.  And the models don’t replicate what’s happened,” Barton said. “So (scientists) need to go back to square one, look at the empirical data, look at alternative theories, and see if they can find a theory that actually fits the facts.”

http://news.google.com/news/se…

Sounds much more like Fudging the Science, to me …

I’ve been poor, and I’ve been not so poor — and not being Poor is better.

Finally after 50 years of treating those in Poverty, as a bothersome statistic, the Federal Govt has begun to acknowledge, that there ARE individual stories, in that invisible demographic group:

Federal Gov’t Expands How It Measures Poverty

The Census Bureau will expand how it measures poverty beyond just cash income to get a more accurate picture of what people actually have to spend.

Frank James, NPR — March 2, 2010

NPR’s Pam Fessler summed up the changes for network’s newscast:

Things such as taxes, child care, housing and out-of-pocket medical expenses, along with the value of government benefits such as food stamps, will be included in the calculation. The official poverty measure, which is based on an individual’s cash income, will still be used to determine eligibility for government programs. The supplemental measure will be used to study poverty trends and the impact of anti-poverty programs. The change is something that’s been long sought by poverty experts. The new measure will be available next year.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetw…

With all the other HCR news, you may have missed this important tidbit. (I know I did.)

House Votes To Repeal Antitrust Exemption for Health Insurance Firms

Thursday, February 25, 2010

On Wednesday, the House voted 406-19 to end a 65-year-old antitrust exemption for health insurance companies, part of Democrats’ broader strategy to revive their health reform efforts ahead of Thursday’s bipartisan health care summit, Roll Call reports (Dennis, Roll Call, 2/25).

The bill (HR 4626) would amend the 1945 McCarran-Ferguson Act, which exempts insurers from federal antitrust law if they are regulated by the states.

http://www.californiahealthlin…

Granted it’s NOT the Public Option, BUT still it’s important to finally putting the brakes on the run-away rising costs of Health Care, hopefully …

There was some good news from the CBO today:

CBO: Stimulus bill created up to 2.1 million jobs

By ANDREW TAYLOR, The Associated Press – Feb 23, 2010

WASHINGTON — The economic stimulus law added between 1 million to 2.1 million workers to employment rolls by the end of last year, a new report released Tuesday by congressional economists said.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office study also said the $862 billion stimulus added between 1.5 to 3.5 percentage points to the growth of the economy in 2009.

[…]

CBO projects that the stimulus measure to have a greater impact this year, boosting gross domestic product [GDP] by 1.4 to 4 percentage points and lowering the unemployment rate by 0.7 to 1.8 percentage points.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…

And CBO is projecting even more good news this year, due to the Stimulus Jobs Bill …

You got to give the Conversatives credit.

They know how to make the most of an Opportunity. They know how to rally their members.

AND Conservatives know how to boil down their Ideas into simple Talking Points, that they can easily repeat, and easily pawn off on their Independent friends, neighbors, and acquaintances.

Short, sweet, and to the point.  Agree, or Disagree, one thing about Conservatives — you always know where they stand. And you usually know Why, too.

As this year’s Conservative Rally CPAC, winds to a close, some New Talking Points have emerged.

Question is, Will Dems sit idlely by, saying “Oh that’s nice. Good for them,” or will Dems take note, and respond forcefully, factually, and with good humor, to the “War for Hearts and Minds” that is about to take place?

Mr Luntz is at it again, doing what he does best:   Making Stuff Up for purely Politcal Gain!

Wall St Consultant Frank Luntz Pens Memo On

How To Channel Economic Anxiety Into Protecting Wall St Abuses

Lee Fang, ThinkProgress – 02/01/2010

[…] Luntz, who gained national recognition for his role in shaping the buzzword-heavy Contract for America with Newt Gingrich in 1994, has built a sizable business selling his messaging advice to both corporations and Republican campaigns.

The new memo instructs opponents of financial reform to simply lie about reform legislation, and to twist economic anxiety resulting from the recession into fear of any government effort to fix the underlying cause of the financial crisis. The most dishonest argument is that financial reform would “punish” taxpayers while rewarding “big banks and credit card companies.” In reality, top financial industry lobbyists are not only fighting proposed oversight regulations, but have said recently that they are opposed to “any regulation” at all.

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/…

How DOES this Man sleep at night?

Most of us know that Most Glaciers ARE Melting. Here are some stats:

A Reply to the Attacks on Climate Change Science

The science is sound and the glaciers are shrinking, says the Union of Concerned Scientists.

02/10/2010

A 2005 global survey of 442 glaciers from the World Glacier Monitoring Service found that only 26 were advancing, 18 were stationary, and 398 were retreating. Overall, about 90 percent of the world’s glaciers that scientists have measured are shrinking as the planet warms.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/…

And here’s what a shrinking glacier looks like using time-lapse photography, to speed up the action …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

grid·lock

noun

1. A traffic jam in which no vehicular movement is possible, especially one caused by the blockage of key intersections within a grid of streets.

2. A complete lack of movement or progress resulting in a backup or stagnation:

“the political gridlock that prevented … the President and Congress from moving expeditiously to cut the budget”

gridlock – Chiefly US

noun

1. (Engineering / Automotive Engineering) obstruction of urban traffic caused by queues of vehicles forming across junctions and causing further queues to form in the intersecting streets

2. a point in a dispute at which no agreement can be reached; deadlock political gridlock

verb

1. to block or obstruct (an area)

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gridlock

For our scientifically challenged fellow-citizens, it may hard to understand, but simply experiencing a few record-setting Snow Storms, does NOT automatically disprove the theory of Global Warming (aka Climate Change).  Science doesn’t work that way.  Science takes evidence.  Science takes data.  Science takes experiments – and lots and lots of Measuring. … It takes measuring of those boring things, called Facts.

The theory of Climate Change, views weather events from a long-term perspective.   Climate varies from year to year. Decade to decade.

Climate is a generational phenomenon. (could be why the younger generation “gets it” — more so than the older.)

Weather, on the other hand, changes with the wind.  Weather is a daily event.  Weather is the background noise, upon which we plan our daily lives.

In other words, weather can change – a lot;  over the course of a week, or over a Season. … Weather can even swing wildly over the course of a day sometimes – just ask anyone caught without rain gear, when unexpected downburst rolls in.

Weather is volatile.  Weather is constantly changing.  Climate not so much.

olive branch

n

1. a branch of an olive tree used to symbolize peace

2. any offering of peace or conciliation

http://www.thefreedictionary.c…

dis dain

tr.v. dis·dained, dis·dain·ing, dis·dains

1. To regard or treat with haughty contempt; despise. See Synonyms at despise.

2. To consider or reject as beneath oneself.

n.

1. A feeling or show of contempt and aloofness; scorn.

http://www.thefreedictionary.c…

Given the same opportunity, the famed GOP guru, Frank Luntz, would recommend the same tactics again, in order to derail progress …

Obama: Small Business Key for Recovery

Kent Bernhard, Jr. — Jan 27, 2010

The president proposed eliminating all capital-gains taxes on small-business investment, creating tax incentives for small businesses to hire new workers and raise the wages of those they already employ, and steering $30 billion in money from the Wall Street bailout to community banks to lend to small businesses.

“Now, the true engine of job creation in this country will always be America’s businesses. But government can create the conditions necessary for businesses to expand and hire more workers,” Obama said. “We should start where most new jobs do–in small businesses, companies that begin when an entrepreneur takes a chance on a dream, or a worker decides its time she became her own boss.”

http://www.portfolio.com/busin…

OK, how will Small Business, get the help they need, to put Americans back on the Road to Recovery?