Paul Luvera Journal

The Huffington Blog points out the following language in the Bush administration’s proposal for a bail out of the failing corporations. It reads: “Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.” This means that $700 billion of taxpayer dollars to save several financial institutions will be totally at the discretion of the Executive branch without any…

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Ann McFeatters a PI columnist has written about John McCain’s willingness to switch position for political motives. I’ve commented on what I see as his changed character, in his drive to be elected, from the maverick U.S. Senator to a desperate presidential candidate. It is also galling to me as a Northwest resident that he played a major role in the Boeing Company’s loss of the bid for the Air Force refueling tanker to a French company. But, this involves…

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The media reports that Senate Republicans blocked a  poposed windfall profit tax on the oil industry. The Bush administration and Republican Congress have had their way for eight years in protecting the oil industry while it continued to collect more and more profits. Sixty votes were needed to pass the bill and  only fifty one voted for it. Senator Mary Landrieu, Louisiana was the only Democrat to oppose the bill and she has ties to the oil industry in her…

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John Edwards has decided to endorse Obama. Edwards collected a large percentage of votes in West Virginia in the Clinton-Obama race when he wasn’t even in the running. John Edwards has been the candidate Lita and I have supported in two attempts at the White house. A long time friend of ours, John also is an extraordinary competent and bright person.  I can’t think of a better combination than Obama and Edwards for the White house this year.

Politics and religion. Those are the two subjects we were told we should avoid in talking with others if we want to be socially acceptable. Yet, politics has come to play such a significant part of our lives that it is hard not to talk about it, especially in a presidential election year. Much of the political disputes involves differing views as to the reason for and role of government. Take the conservatives and in particular Grover Norquist. Norquist, who…

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The Huffington Blog has a posting about John McCain and his changed character since running for the presidency. I have complained about the change in John McCain myself. (See 2/6/07 "Senator John McCain and Lack of Character) I had regarded the Senator as a maverick straight shooter and admired his character until he began to lust over the white house. As Huffington points out: "The fact that this man was so angry at what George Bush had done to him,…

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Until George W. Bush was sworn in as president January 20, 2001, there were several U.S. Presidents who were regarded as the worst in American History. Warren G. Harding (1921-1923) was always the leading candidate for the worst president in American History. Harding is now a very distant runner up behind George W. Bush as the worst president in U.S. history. The list of qualifying facts for this position is too long to print here. But at the top of…

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Arianna Huffington in her blog raises an issue that I have wondered about which is why the candidates are ignoring Iraq? Here’s what she says and I think she is right: "…ignoring Iraq would be a disaster for the Democrats — whoever their nominee turns out to be. Pushing Iraq aside and ceding national security to the GOP while focusing on domestic and economic concerns is the exact game plan the party power-brokers convinced John Kerry to follow in 2004….

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The new laws against drunk driving in Arizona are very severe which is one reason we’ve decided to stay home New Year’s Eve. This state has one of the most severe laws in the nation regarding driving while drinking. In June the state passed a new law that requires ignition-interlock devices for first time offenders, increased fines and a minimum of 45 days in jail for DUI convictions where the blood alcohol is .20 or higher. (See chart to calculate…

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We have all been reading about the CIA destroying the video tapes of their interrogation of two al-Qaida suspects in order to keep them from being seen and to conceal their probable torture methods. This happened after a federal judge had ordered that such information be preserved and following evasive responses from the Bush administration about it’s knowledge and role in the matter. The videotapes were made in 2002 and showed the CIA’s interrogations of the two prisoners. The CIA…

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