Friday, May 05, 2006

Notes for Friday

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

*Holy cow! It appears that the FBI is investigating a huge sex scandal involving Republicans, hookers, limousines, poker, and government contracts. The story is here.

*Did you know that 82 of our people were killed in Iraq last month?

*Republican Sen. Bill Frist really insulted the American people with his proposal to pass out $100 checks to all Americans to cover rising gas prices. Do you think Frist actually drives his own car and pumps his own gas? If he did, he'd know that $100 is nothing to the consumer. The New York Times has a story on how Frist's presidential campaign is faltering.

*Well, folks, we know how well the President and the Republicans handled the Katrina disaster. Now they have a plan on the government's response to a possible bird flu. Do you want to know what it is? Guess what? The people who told you to buy duct tape, plastic sheeting and water are now telling our nation that you are on your own if we are faced with the bird flu. On your own. According to the Bush administration, your city, county, and state should draw up their own plans because there will be no funding for a bird flu emergency. (This sounds like the No Child Left Behind Act: a federal mandate without funding.) Newsweek has an article about how some doctors and public health experts are appalled by the lack of planning that the government is doing to prepare for this possible pandemic.