Is Big Brother Watching You?

Other than seeing your face on the bulletin board at your Post Office, how do you know whether or not the government is watching your activities? You don't! But you can find out. Have you ever participated in an anti-war protest or a civil rights march, or God forbid, booed Bush at a Republican rally or maybe you know someone the FBI has been trailing and trailing you is a step in their procedure? The Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act both allow U.S. citizens to request any information that certain government agencies may have on file about you. It's simple. Just visit the following site: www.getmyfbifile.com and use it to generate a letter requesting your file. While you're at it you might want to send letters to the CIA and any other agencies you might suspect have been or still are following your footsteps. Good luck!

SPRING FLING ART AUCTION

All Over But the Crying

TODAY'S GUESSING GAME

O.K., who are these people? Where are they going and why? When was this photo taken? The amount of the prize-winning answer will depend on how many correct answers are received. All entries most be posted on this site by April 1, 2008.

Is Paris Hilton a Democrat?

A day or two ago I was in a doctor's office shuffling through a stack of old magazines while I waited for my appointment. I wasn't interested in reading Paris Hilton's latest misadventures or going to hunt tigers in the forests of Bangladesh, so I laid the magazine down just as I caught sight of a Newsweek dated March 10, 2008. What a find! There in a feature titled Periscope is the most comprehensive yet concise statement on the promises being made by Obama, Clinton, and McCain on their favorite programs and estimates of the cost of each program on a first term, four-year basis.

Obama's health care plan would allow individuals and small companies to buy benefits similar to the ones that members of Congress get. He would mandate coverage for children, and families that could not afford rates would be eligible for subsidies. He would also expand Medicaid and SCHIP programs. He promises to fund this program by allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire, boosting taxes on high earners, redeploy funding from Iraq to domestic woes and possibly lift the cap on payroll taxes. Cost: $240 billion.

Clinton's health program is similar except hers is universal health care coverage for everyone using tax credits to limit premiums to a fixed percentage of family income and expanding rolls of Medicaid and the SCHIP children's coverage. She would also allow the Bush tax cuts to expire in 2010 and end the loophole which benefits hedge-fund managers. Cost: $400 billion.

McCain has not announced any health care programs and now proposes extending the rate reductions on income, capital gains, dividends and estates that are due to expire in 2010. His largest expense is defense spending. It's unclear how he will make up the lost revenue while boosting defense spending and reining in the deficit. It costs some $12 billion per month for combat operations now and he has pledged to maintain U.S. presence in Iraq for 100 years if necessary. The price tag for staying in Iraq at current troop levels through 2012 is $550 billion.

I'll save their programs on education, energy, and border security for another time since I know you're dying to find out more about Paris. I confess that I did sneek a peek at the article on her and found out that she is living in a mansion in Beverly Hills with a Russian oligarch who has more rubles than all the czars put together. In case you wondered, the dictionary defines an oligarchy as a government in which a small group exercises control , especially for corrupt and selfish purposes. Sound familiar? She's bound to be a Republican!

No Voting Redo

At the regular monthly meeting of our Club Board of Directors on Friday, March 7, a spirited discussion was introduced by our President, Joan Walton, regarding our position on the primary voting which took place on January 29 in violation of the Democratic National Committee order that we not move our voting date forward and if we did commit this violation our Florida delegates would not be seated at the national convention in August. None of the Democratic candidates appeared in the state to campaign and the winner was Clinton.

The Democratic National Committee has now proposed that we redo the primary election process, but it will not fund the expense involved. The Democratic State Committee also will not provide funds for a new election saying that it still believes the DNC will eventually seat our delegates as well as those of Michigan, our violation partner. So we are at an impasse on this issue. The Board, after several motions and withdrawals and amendments, voted to NOT redo the election and to accept the rulings of the Democratic National Committee. Presumably our Club opinion will be announced at the monthly meeting of the county Democratic leaders (DEC) where another round of motions will occur and be voted upon. If this does occur, the decision will appear in this Club blog.