Angle and Heck Target of Political Smear Websites

Joe Heck and Sharron Angle are the most recent victims of humorous smear websites here in Nevada. I say smear, because clearly they are meant to harm. That does not mean these websites do not speak the truth.

Take a look for yourself. Are these websites fair?

sharronsundergroundbunker.com

heckschecks.com

Sharron Angle is called out on her numerous controversial statements and on her elusive conduct with the press as of late.

Joe Heck’s numerous sources of government funded income is put under the spotlight.

These attack sites are becoming popular with both parties. We saw Mike Montandon put forth a smear site against Brian Sandoval during the primaries with whoisbriansandoval.com. This website tried to paint Sandoval as an establishment candidate with RINO like positions.

They appear to have been effective at points. Numerous anti-Sue Lowden websites emerged before the primary election, and we all know how that turned out.

If they are effective, we can expect that they will continue. The fear is that these sites may misrepresent facts about their targets. The general public rarely has enough information to discern the truth for themselves.

While the websites about Sharron Angle and Joe Heck certainly present information that I think should be known to voters, I fear that other websites may emerge with confusing information about candidates, and mislead voters.

Always check your facts. If you want to know the truth, do some research. It is up to each of us as citizens in this great nation, to know the facts and be informed voters. If not, this Democracy is just a facade.

New Health Care Bill Passes Congress

The House of Representatives passed the new health care bill Sunday evening. The billed carried 219-212 with all Republicans opposing and 34 Democrats passing on the bill as is.

Yes We Did!

The bill climbed back after being close to dead for 2 months. If any lesson is to be learned, it is that Barrack Obama has a way of winning battles, if that lesson hadn’t already been learned in last years primary.

The bill has now been sent to the Senate, where it is anticipated that Democrats will seek to pass the bill quickly, even if that means suspending the rules, i.e. the filibuster.

It is suspected that the legislation will help to insure 35 million uninsured Americans. Though insurance will now be required to some who haven’t had it before, there are also subsidies for families making under 85,000 a year to pay the premiums.

In related news, Bob Stupak spoke during debates about the sufficiency of the legislation in preventing federal funding of abortion. As he was speaking, shouts of “baby killer” could be heard coming from the Republican side of the chamber. More indignant outbursts from Republicans on Capitol Hill. Yeah!

Polls: America, Obama, Dems Less Respected ?

The Washington Times reports The Democracy Corps just released a study that shows that the United States is less respected than it was a few years ago. The poll also reportedly shows that Obama and Democrats are favored less than Republicans on issues of national security.

However, the polls have the President’s approval ratings high in many areas of national security, higher than his overall approval ratings. Nonetheless, there is apparently some concern with how other areas are being handled.

The study showed the following:

While his overall approval rating stands at 47 percent (down 1 point from Democracy Corps’ January survey), more than half of all likely voters approve of the president’s handling of Afghanistan (58 percent), national security (57 percent), “leading America’s military” (57 percent), “improving America’s standing in the world” (55 percent), fighting terrorism (54 percent), and Iraq (54 percent). These are strong figures at a time when America is fighting two wars abroad and continuing to face an active terrorist threat.

The poll certainly shows that most Americans think Obama is doing a better job on national security than Bush did.

Public opinion is so fickle, and can be swayed by so many nuanced factors. The study showed that fears about the economy are leading to negative evaluations of our standing in the world, and Obama’s job approval.

Let us not forget that public opinion and objective analysis are rarely one in the same. After all, how can the American people make a fair observation about national security when only 21% know who Robert Gates is.?

More Education Cuts: Nevada Special Session

Governor Jim Gibbons has released the details of his budget plan for the special session of the Nevada Legislature coming up. To the surprise and chagrin of law makers, and members of the community, the plan calls for even greater cuts to education than anticipated.

Education vs. Taxes

“If anyone else has any ideas on how to fix it, I am listening,” Gibbons said. “This criticism does not recognize that this problem is fixable, and I have presented a plan to fix it.”

One twist to this story is that Governor Gibbons’ plan also includes broad tax increases. He insists that these changes are not tax increases, however, claiming he is simply clarifying tax codes and closing loopholes. This will be more interesting “NVTV” as we wait and see if a 2/3 majority will be needed to increase state revenue, as required by the state constitution.

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, said Wednesday the additional 1.75 percent salary cut on top of 10 percent across the board already proposed by the Republican governor would mean thousands of teacher layoffs and 50-student class sizes in high schools.

Yet another bizarre aspect in Nevada politics is the constitutional requirement to fund education (K-12) first. In the case of Guinn vs. Legislature, the Nevada Supreme Court decided that Education, and the funding thereof, is a fundamental right. They also said that the 2/3 majority requirement to increase taxes would be overridden by this right. That is what has made this case problematic. That aspect of the case was later overturned by the Nevada Court. Nonetheless, the Nevada Constitution still requires education to be fully funded.

So what of that? The school of thought is that the high Court will not waive the 2/3 majority rule. Even so, shouldn’t they require the legislature to reasonably fund education? I do not think that 50 kids to a class room constitutes reasonable funding. Any bill that comes out of the legislature that tries to further cut funding of education (k-12) should be unconstitutional.

Yes, and Jim Gibbons will put education first! See this hilarious video.