My Personal Blog - SeanandRuth.us

You can find my personal blog covering non-political topics at http://seanandruth.us

Friday, June 08, 2012

Senate to Vote on Pro-Choice Federal Judicial Nominee Andrew Hurwitz

Eagle Forum Alert - Vote on Pro-Choice Federal Judicial Nominee Andrew Hurwitz

As early as this Monday, June 11, the Senate will vote on a cloture motion to move to final confirmation on Andrew David Hurwitz, the self-identified architect of Roe v. Wade.  We need you to call your Senators and tell them to vote NO on Hurwitz!

Hurwitz has bragged about helping to write two decisions that formed the basis for Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. The 1972 decisions by Hurwitz' then boss, Federal Judge Jon O. Newman, have been called a "crucial influence" on Justice Harry Blackmun as he was drafting Roe v. Wade.

Roe v. Wade is not only the most deadly Supreme Court decision in history, legalizing the killing of millions of unborn children, it is one of the most constitutionally questionable.  Even Justice Blackmun’s pro-abortion law clerk Edward Lazarus, who considered Blackmun a father figure, said of the decision, “As a matter of constitutional interpretation and judicial method, Roe borders on the indefensible.”

Legal scholar Ed Whelan notes, “No serious judge would want to take credit for a decision that amounts to one of the worst instances of judicial usurpation of legislative power.”

Barack Obama’s supremacist judges will continue to implement his radical agenda long after he leaves the White House.  We must take action now to stop them!  Please call your Senators now and urge them to vote NO on both cloture and final confirmation on Andrew David Hurwitz.

Capitol Switchboard:  (202) 224-3121


Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Why I'm not surprised Prop Y passed and plans for the future

MSD put up Prop Y in 2004 and 2008, and both of those passed by over 70%. This time the "Clean Water STL" group raised $385,000 to push a YES to get approval for MSD to issue bonds for sewer improvements.

With a complicated back story and money to frame the narrative as "if you want clean water vote YES," can I blame my neighbors for voting to spend an extra $945 million to finance the sewer improvements?

I'm frustrated, but I'm not giving up. There are many public agencies that need people "watching" to give the entire community more time to investigate and talk about issues before voting. For now, my plan is to figure out exactly how the MSD rate commission works, and why the Missouri Coalition for the Environment has both a seat on the rate commission and joined the suit with the EPA against MSD.

I also want to find a mail house, and figure out the cost of doing one mailer to all the April voters. I think mailing to all registered voters would be costly, but targeting only the April voters with information, in the future is key. The only info voters got was from the "Clean Water STL."

"The People" had no heads up.

But what's new?


Senate Rejects Feminist Wage Control! - Why is it that Women Make Less than men?

Kay Hymowitz explains this very well in her Wall Street Journal article, Why Women Make Less than Men. Basically, men work more hours than women--on average.
The Labor Department defines full-time as 35 hours a week or more, and the "or more" is far more likely to refer to male workers than to female ones. According to the department, almost 55% of workers logging more than 35 hours a week are men. In 2007, 25% of men working full-time jobs had workweeks of 41 or more hours, compared with 14% of female full-time workers. In other words, the famous gender-wage gap is to a considerable degree a gender-hours gap.
Eagle Forum's recent alert highlights how the Senate voted against discussing the so-called “Paycheck Fairness Act.”
We applaud the Senators who stood up against phony allegations of a “war on women” and voted against a Motion to Proceed to discussion of this terrible bill.  Here is the roll call vote.  Please contact your Senators and either thank them or hold them to task for today’s vote.

Please note that Harry Reid voted NO on this bill as a procedural maneuver to reserve himself the right to bring the bill to the floor again. Reid once again moved to pass the so-called “Paycheck Fairness Act.”

Monday, June 04, 2012

VOTE NO on Prop Y (Includes Interview with MSD Spokesperson)


On Tuesday, June 6, voters be asked to approve another $945 million in BONDs for the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District, which is essentially approving nearly $1.9 BILLION in spending because the interest payments are costly. For every $1 MSD borrows, there is $1 interest payment over the term of the loan. (Hear the MSD spokesperson explain.)

Voters are probably getting tons of mail telling them how high the MSD bills will be if Prop. Y fails.
Yet, Voting NO on Prop. Y means huge savings in the long run because it starts financing the entire $4.7 Billion EPA settlement now, and we do not have make interest payments.

Voting NO on Prop. Y means saving at least $945 million because if the bonds approved for in Prop Y equal $945 million that mean $945 in interest (a total of ~1.8 BILLION in spending)!

Voting NO means your rates stay in the mid-$60s, but with the bonds your rate goes into the $80s by late 2010s/early 2020 --and that doesn't even include the rest of $4 BILLION EPA require improvements!

This is not complicated: the rates are going up. You either will pay double because of interest, or you can vote NO, and pay for "it" once.

What can you do?

Vote NO on Tuesday.
Share an image or post from the the "Prop Y. - Vote NO" FB Page.

Here's a helpful graph by rebootcongress.blogspot.com. Red line is with bonds; blue line is VOTE NO on Prop. Y.


Friday, June 01, 2012

Vote NO on Prop Y - SAVES MONEY

You are probably getting tons of mail telling you how high your MSD bill will be if Prop. Y fails.

Yet, Voting NO on Prop. Y means huge savings in the long run. Voting NO on Prop. Y means saving nearly $1 Billion!

How can that be you ask? Well, Voting NO means saving the interest owed on the bonds.

Even more, Voting NO on Prop. Y could mean paying the entire $4 BILLION that MSD needs with out paying a single dime in interest payments!

When MSD issues bonds, it generally pays $1 in interest for every $1 it borrows.

If the bonds approved for in Prop Y equal $945 million that mean $945 in interest!

Voting NO means your rates stay in the mid-$60s, but with the bonds your rate goes into the $80s by late 2010s/early 2020.

This is not complicated: the rates are going up. You either will pay double because of interest, or you can vote NO, and pay for "it" once.

What can you do?
Vote NO on Tuesday.
Share an image or post from the the "Prop Y. - Vote NO" FB Page.