Did you know that funding for pandemic flu preparedness was removed from the stimulus package bill by Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins? This is a very interesting posting by Jason Linkins at the Huffington Post:
....as it turns out, volcano monitoring wasn't the only worthwhile public safety program that was deemed extravagant in the stimulus package, funding for pandemic preparation was axed as well. And playing a critical role was Susan Collins -- for whom the necessity of obtaining her vote is in inverse proportion to the intelligence she shows in policy making:
Famously, Maine Senator Collins, the supposedly moderate Republican who demanded cuts in health care spending in exchange for her support of a watered-down version of the stimulus, fumed about the pandemic funding: "Does it belong in this bill? Should we have $870 million in this bill No, we should not."You might want to check her website while the link is still posted (Sen. Susan Collins):
Even now, Collins continues to use her official website to highlight the fact that she led the fight to strip the pandemic preparedness money out of the Senate's version of the stimulus measure...
...After meeting with Mr. Obama, Sen. Collins expressed concern about a number of spending provisions, including $780 million for pandemic-flu preparedness. "I have no doubt that the president is willing to negotiate in good faith, that he wants to have a bipartisan bill," Sen. Collins said....
I hope that the Republicans stop delaying the confirmation of Kathleen Sebelius for Sec. of Health and Human Services. The GOP has been stalling confirmation of a number of people in the CDC and the Department of Health at the risk of the American people.
> This is a big day in Iowa, according to the DesMoines Register:
Same-sex marriage becomes the law of the land in Iowa today, but out-of-state residents who are married here aren't likely to be afforded the same rights as heterosexual couples when they return home.
Iowa's lack of a residency law allows out-of-state gay and lesbian couples to join Iowans seeking marriage licenses at recorders offices across the state, starting this morning. State law calls for a three-day waiting period before the licenses can be used, although same-sex marriages will take place today if judges waive that provision....
>> The Ohio Republicans are playing a little game here in the state. Republican State Rep. Seth Morgan sued Governor Ted Strickland for some research papers related to improving school funding in the state. Morgan's case was taken to the Ohio Supreme Court and, according to the Dispatch:
...The Ohio Supreme Court prodded Gov. Ted Strickland yesterday to provide more records about his school-funding plan to a state representative, but the justices did not fault Strickland for not handing over all of the documents already.
The court's ruling was unanimous but mixed: It noted that Rep. Seth Morgan's requests for documents were broad but said the Dayton-area Republican has a right to the information.....
.....The governor has turned over more than 7,000 documents to Morgan, which he has posted online at ohioeducationevidence.com. But Morgan said he's still looking for more about how the governor's education plan was designed.....
Morgan and the Ohio Republicans are starting to resemble the National Republican Party in that they have no new ideas of their own, but they will attack, deride, and tear apart the Democrats for their proposals. While Republican Jim Hughes pontificated and wasted precious time to pass his legislation in the State Senate that relates to one person with a urine fetish (Dispatch 10/21/09), the school children in Ohio wait for equitable school funding in the state. Morgan, Hughes, and the rest of the Ohio GOP need to get something done instead of playing games with children's futures.
