Obama balloon

We had an artist day at school and a balloon artist was one of the day’s favorites.  Check out the balloon that he made in the likeness of President Obama!

Amazing, huh?

Did you know?

Did you know that the White House now has a blog?   I put it in my bloglines and I get to see a snippet of each post- to see if I want to read about it.  Today I read about the delay in changing tv to digital, the foreclosure crisis, how education should be, as the president toured a DC charter school and the expansion of health care for needy children.  I love this new aspect of the new website- information right at my fingertips, without me having to search on cnn.com.

Did you know that President Obama gives a video message to the country every week?  It’s in the section called, “Your Weekly Address.”  I also think this is great!  It’s nice to have the leaders of our country speaking right to the regular people. 

If you haven’t checked out the new website, head on over here.

Where did you watch the inauguration?

I watched from my classroom with my kids.  I brought them back early from lunch so they could see the swearing in.  After studying civil rights, Rosa Parks and MLK, the kids were so excited to have a non-white president.  They started excitedly talking about how we now need a woman president, a hispanic president, an indian president, and an asian president (all kids in our class).  I hope they truly understand how significant this historic day was- I really think they do. 

I wanted the kids to be able to watch it on my interactive whiteboard, since it’s so big, but the internet was jammed!  So, instead they had to crane their necks.  They didn’t seem to mind.

I love that one of the students is pointing at President Obama in this picture.  How cute!

Tax Proposals

I just found this great tax comparison in The Washington Post.  This was such great news, I had to share.  Basically, no matter who wins, unless you make millions, your taxes are not going to go up.  In fact, for most poeple, you will see a tax break.  Good to hear, since I’ve heard the opposite about both sides!

Obama and McCain Tax Proposals

According to a new analysis by the Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are both proposing tax plans that would result in cuts for most American families. Obama’s plan gives the biggest cuts to those who make the least, while McCain would give the largest cuts to the very wealthy. For the approximately 147,000 families that make up the top 0.1 percent of the income scale, the difference between the two plans is stark. While McCain offers a $269,364 tax cut, Obama would raise their taxes, on average, by $701,885 – a difference of nearly $1 million.

Rick Warren

I have read so much about Rick Warren’s religious forum that he held with Obama and McCain.  So many people who were not Christian were upset about it.  They thought that it was inappropriate. As a Christian, I thought it was great.  I really loved the way the forum was set up.  Each candidate was asked the same questions.  Speeches are fine and dandy, but I really enjoy seeing the candid responses, especially in a non-debate setting.  And especially about something that is important in my life- Jesus and Christianity in general.  What did you think?  Do you think it was a good idea?  What did you think of the answers?  (I know this was a little late in posting!)

Free Obama button

Hey,

Want a free Obama button? MoveOn’s giving them away totally free–no strings attached. I just got mine, and wanted to share the opportunity with you.

Click this link to get a free Obama button:

http://pol.moveon.org/obamabuttons/?id=-9279307-TdaYc9x

Thanks!

The Choice Is Clear

The answer to our rising gas prices is not drilling off our Florida coast or in Anwar.  The fact is that it would barely make a dent in our oil needs, it would only give more money to Big Oil organizations. As Obama says, “We can’t afford 4 more years of our addiction to oil from dictators.”  Check out how Obama and McCain compare:

The Choice Is Clear

CHALLENGE		McCAIN
Immediate Financial Relief for Families This Summer	$300 per family in rebate checks from a second round of stimulus to help families offset the cost of $4.00 gas this summer. (Obama Second Stimulus Plan)	No credible plan for immediate financial relief. Proposed a gas tax gimmick that would provide at most 30 cents a day for the typical workers while increasing oil company profits and depriving our under-funded national highway trust fund of $10 billion. (Tax Policy Center)
Making America’s Economy Vibrant and Competitive in the Long Haul	Apollo-scale investment of $150 billion investment over 10 years to jumpstart renewable energy technology development and deployment.	No comprehensive plan for clean energy investments. Has repeatedly opposed any new investments and incentives in for renewable energy. He rejects 99.8% of the Obama ideas for investing in our energy future – the advanced battery prize represents 0.2% of the overall investment in the Obama plan.
The Next 10 Years of Oil	3 million barrels of oil savings. Plan will reduce U.S. oil consumption by about 3 million barrels of oil per day by 2018. Supports new development on existing leases, which could nearly double total U.S. oil production, and increase natural gas production by 75 percent. (Obama Energy Plan)	Not a drop more. McCain plan to open up our coastlines to drilling would not bring meaningful new production on-line for ten years. (U.S. Dept. of Energy)
Reducing Dependence on Foreign Oil	Plan to reduce oil consumption by 10 million barrels, or at least 35%, by 2030. That is enough to totally offset our imports from OPEC countries.	Says No to this goal, and has no plan to reduce our long-term dependence on oil.
Green Collar Jobs	Plan for renewables, fuel economy and energy efficiency will help create 5 million new green collar jobs.	No green jobs plan.
Ending Excessive Speculation in Oil Markets	Supports fully closing the Enron Loophole and eliminating offshore loopholes that encourage excessive speculation. Plan will ease the impact of rising prices.	No plan. Sen. Phil Gramm – one of Senator McCain’s chief economic advisors – was responsible for sneaking the Enron Loophole into law.
Fuel Economy v Offshore Drilling	Supports doubling the fuel efficiency of autos within 18 years, saving American consumers from purchasing a half trillion gallons of gas. Taking this one step will achieve more than three times the oil savings than could be produced under even the most optimist scenarios of drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Obama Energy Plan; Department of Energy)	No plan to increase fuel efficiency standards. Repeatedly opposed legislative efforts to increase CAFE standards. Now supports simply enforcing existing standards.
Energy Efficiency	Plan will reduce the energy intensity of our economy 50% by 2030, through improvements in building efficiency, smart grid, and giving utilities an incentive to invest in efficiency rather than new production.	No energy efficiency plan.
Windfall Profits Tax	Supports implementing a well-designed windfall profits tax on profits made over $80 per barrel to help families pay energy bills.	No windfall profits tax plan. Supports $4 billion per year in new tax breaks for major U.S. oil companies, including $1.2 billion per year for Exxon-Mobil – the most profitable company in the history of the world. (Center for American Progress)

Obama ‘08

Free sticker!

Dear MoveOn member,

Amazing news: We smashed our goal and have given away over half a million Obama bumper stickers!

Since folks are so enthusiastic about showing their support for Obama, we’re going to open this up to everybody. That’s right: We’ll give a free bumper sticker to every American who wants one.

Can you take a moment to forward this email to your friends, family, and colleagues and let them know that they can order a FREE Obama bumper sticker? (If you haven’t ordered yours yet, you can do so at the link below, too.)

https://pol.moveon.org/obamastickers/?id=12816-9279307-EyhIl4&t=4

If hundreds of thousands of us order these stickers and place them somewhere visible, we’ll show voters in every town how excited we all are about Barack Obama.

These stickers are great even if you don’t have a car. You can put them on your bike, laptop, ice chest—really, anywhere.

Forward this email to your friends, family, and colleagues so they can order theirs—or click below to order one for yourself if you haven’t already.

https://pol.moveon.org/obamastickers/?id=12816-9279307-EyhIl4&t=6

Thanks again for all you do.

–Nita, Peter, Daniel, Karin and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
  Monday, June 9th, 2008

I voted. Did you?

Even I am surprised!

So, I’ve always considered myself to be a moderate Republican.  I voted for Bush, although I wouldn’t do it again.  Since the craziness of the Bush administration, I’ve started looking around at all the candidates, not just the Republican ones.  To my surprise, I realized that I agreed more with the Democratic candidates.  So, I started doing a little research, and realized that I really am a Democrat.  Interesting.  Here’s a little checklist I came across regarding the issues and what each party usually agrees on. My thoughts are in red.

Issues                                                                       

 1. Abortion

Democrats:  Abortion is a woman’s right and should be legal    

Republicans:  Abortion should be illegal and restricted by government   

I’ve got to agree with the Republicans on this one, but not all the way.   There has to be some sort of protection for the life of  the mother, for rape, incest, etc.

2. Flag Burning

Democrats:  Flag burning is political speech and is protected by the Constitution            

Republicans:  Protect the flag from burning by a constitutional amendment    

I agree with the Democrats on this one.          

3.  Gun Control           

           Democrats:  Favor/Gun control is needed                                            

           Republicans:  Oppose/Gun control is unconstitutional     

I’m on the Dems side again here.             

4.  Natural Environment

Democrats:  Strong regulations are needed to protect the environment        

Republicans:  Strong environmental laws harm the economy      

Again, I’m siding with the Democrats.  How can you possibly not want to protect the environment?  Global warming is scary stuff and we have got to regulate our carbon output!

5.  Race Relations

Democrats:  Strong anti-discrimination laws are needed

Republicans:  People and businesses can be trusted not to discriminate  

I’m going with the Dems again.             

6.  Minimum Wage

           Democrats:  Favor/Increase the minimum wage to help workers

           Republicans:  Oppose/Do not raise the minimum wage because it hurts  businesses

Another point for the Democrats- increasing minimum wage helps workers, children of these workers, and the economy.

7.  Healthcare                               

           Democrats:  Government should require universal access to healthcare

           Republicans:  Private insurers are preferable to government mandates

I’m right in the middle on this one.  I’m not a fan of government healthcare, but I do think everyone should be able to access healthcare, especially children, with programs like what we have in Georgia, called Peachcare.

8. Taxes

           Democrats:  Increase taxes on the wealthy to pay for public programs

           Republicans:  Cutting taxes for everyone helps the economy

I’ll admit that I’m not very knowledgable about taxes.  This is something I have to do more research on!

9. Military

Democrats:  Cut military spending; expand veteran’s benefits; act in concert with other nations and/or with support from NATO and the UN

Republicans:  Increase military spending; cut veteran’s benefits; don’t be constrained by other nations or by NATO and the UN

Although I don’t agree with cutting military spending, I do think that we should expand veteran’s benefits, not cut them.  I also think that we need to align with NATO and the UN and not just do whatever we want, so we dont’ make another huge mistake like Iraq.  So, I’m going with the democrats on this one.

10.  Death Penalty       

           Democrats:  Oppose/It is not a deterrent and innocent people are in   jeopardy

           Republicans:  Favor/The death penalty is necessary and effective

Going with the Democrats on this one…life in prison is worse than the death penalty. I also don’t think that we should be in charge of taking another mans life.

11. Gay Rights

           Democrats:  Favor/Gays rights and marriage are civil rights

           Republicans:  Oppose/Marriage is a sacred trust between a man and woman

If you know me at all, you know that I am strongly for gay marriage.  It is against the civil rights of gays to not be able to lawfully marry.  So, obviously, I’m on the Democratic side.

12.  Prayer in School

           Democrats:  Oppose/Violation of the separation between church and state

           Republicans:  Favor/It is a religious right and our Judeo-Christian heritage

Again, I’m with the Dems on this one.   No one should be forced to pray, especially if that person doesn’t believe in that religion.  When I was in college (to be a teacher), one of my professors told us to imagine our kids going to school and them being forced to bow to Mecca and pray to Allah.  As a Christian, how would you feel?  You’d be outraged! 

 So, let’s look at the data here.  Democrats 9, Republicans 1 , with one answer in the middle and one I’m not sure how to answer yet. Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’m a Democrat.