Bad Deeds for 9-9-2009

Youth-Education Program? – The Arlington Independent School District, which passed on airing President Barack Obama’s live classroom address, has announced that some students will be bussed off campus to hear a message from former President George W. Bush on Sept. 21. The event launches the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee’s largest-ever youth education program.

Top 1 Percent of Americans Reaped Two-Thirds of Income Gains in Last Economic Expansion – Income concentration in 2007 was at the highest level since 1928, and we all know what happened in 1929. From 2002 to 2007, the inflation-adjusted income of the top 1 percent of households grew more than ten times faster than the income of the bottom 90 percent of households.

Republican Pick for Response to President Obama’s Health Care Speech is a “Birther” Who Supports “Death Panels” – Louisiana Rep. Charles Boustany will be delivering the GOP response to President Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress tonight. The Washington Post says that it’s a “somewhat surprising pick in that he is little-known nationally and not part of the Republican leadership in Congress.”

What is known about Boustany is that he is a heart surgeon. Somewhat ironically, Boustany is also the co-sponsor of the “Life Sustaining Treatment Preferences Act of 2009” which would mandate that Medicare reimburse the cost of end-of-life counseling — the so-called “death panels.”

But the most “surprising” aspect to the choice of Boustany is the fact that he is a Birther! (A person who says that the president is not an American.)

Back on July 27, guerilla videographer Mike Stark posted a video on this site in which he sought out the “Birthers on the Hill,” in which Boustany is included.

Before entering politics, Boustany unsuccessfully tried to purchase the title of British lord from a pair of con artists.

Bush Tax Cuts Twice As Costly as Dems’ Health Plan – The Democrats’ health care plan costs half as much as the two major tax cuts pushed by the George W. Bush administration, according to a report issued Tuesday. Enacted in 2001 and 2003, the Bush tax cuts are projected to cost about $2.1 trillion in lost revenue in the 10 years since they were first passed, according to Citizens for Tax Justice. The Bush tax cuts tally does not include the additional interest payments on the national debt made necessary by the deficit-financed cuts, the report noted.

That figure bumps up the total cost of the tax cuts to about $2.48 trillion. By comparison, the health care plan advocated by House Democrats is projected to cost about $1 trillion through its first decade (2010-2019), according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.

“Many of the lawmakers who argue that the health care reform legislation is ‘too costly’ are the same lawmakers who supported the Bush tax cuts,” the report notes. “Their own voting record demonstrates that health care reform is not a matter of costs, but a matter of priorities.”

Family-Values Republican Likes Bad Girls – Orange County Republican Michael Duvall describes himself as a “family values” assemblyman. But, now he’s caught on audio tape making naughty conversation about how he likes to spank “such a bad girl,” who happens to be a lobbyist for utility companies. Duvall is vice chairman of the Utilities and Commerce Committee. Bad assemblyman!

Special Interests Received a Copy of Baucus’ Health Care Plan Before the White House Did – In today’s press briefing, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs admitted that the Obama administration has not yet seen a copy of Sen. Max Baucus’ (D-MT) newest draft of health care legislation. “[W]e’ve seen what we’ve read in the paper, but I do not believe that we’ve seen paper on the plan,” said Gibbs. However, he added that he believes special interests on K Street have already received a copy. Baucus has received hefty financial contributions from the health care industry.

Disgraced Ex-Congressman to Get His Own Radio Talkshow – Nearly three years after then-Congressman Mark Foley, R-FLA, saw his political career crumble following the revelation of his sexually explicit emails with underage congressional pages, he’s garnering the spotlight once again: as a radio talk show host.

Foley, who resigned after ABC News’ The Blotter broke the story before going to rehab in Arizona, is set to debut his radio show entitled “Inside the Mind of Mark Foley.” Don’t wear your good shoes.

AT&T Says It Can’t Afford to Upgrade Service, But Spends Plenty on Lobbying – AT&T acts like a company with money to burn. AT&T reportedly spent $8.2 million in the first half of this year lobbying Congress. The company is expected to spend more on lobbying this year than it did last year — money that could be spent improving network performance.

In fact, AT&T is the No. 1 political contributor in the nation, spending an incredible $43.5 million since 1989 to buy influence in government. AT&T complains that it doesn’t have the money to service its iPhone monopoly, while at the same time spending more than every other company on currying favor in Washington. That doesn’t make sense.

Most iPhone users oppose Apple’s exclusivity arrangement with AT&T, and have since the beginning.
Competitive carriers, such as Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile, didn’t like being shut out of the iPhone phenomenon.

The FCC isn’t thrilled, either. The agency is looking into Apple’s exclusive relationship with the carrier.
And Apple has got to be unhappy. AT&T failed to support multimedia messaging (MMS) and tethering (using a phone as a laptop modem) now that iPhone itself supports those features. Apple worked hard to perfect the iPhone experience, and AT&T is wrecking it.

This week, even AT&T itself started complaining about the burdens of serving as the only U.S. carrier for iPhone.

It’s unanimous. Everybody hates Apple’s exclusivity arrangement with AT&T. Even AT&T. So just end it.

Regards,

Jim