The Immigration Debate:
Washington Post writer, Dale Russakoff, placed an excellent story on the subject in this morning's edition: "U.S. Border Town, 1,200 Miles From The Border." The story relates the situation in Dalton, Ga., 1,200 miles from the Mexican border. Georgia is the current poster child for the conflict, and Russakoff's piece portrays the struggle from both sides, including the hypocracy of its ellected officials, like Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss, who currently advocates deporting illegal aliens after having intervened on their behalf only a couple of short years ago. Chambliss is one of those people who claims to lead by simply getting in front of whatever mob seems to be on the move at any given moment, bobbing around like a cork in the water, racing towards whatever direction the current will take him.
Improving Democracy:
Arizona has a novel idea for getting out the vote. The good people of the sunshine state are considering whether or not to turn their next election into a lottery. No, not as a means of electing officials, but in an attempt to increase the voter turnout.
Some forces within the state have proposed that $1,000,000 be given to one lucky voter. You can read about the proposal in today's New York Times. The Times also reports the follow statistics that ought to interest anyone interested in odds making:
The Bush administration, as part of its War on the Elderly, wants to cut Medicare payments to hospitals by 20 to 30 percent. The argument is that not all care costs the same and that they want to make payments to health providers (those people who think your grandparents are their private dairy herd) reflect this fact. You can read about the proposal in today's Times.
Washington Post writer, Dale Russakoff, placed an excellent story on the subject in this morning's edition: "U.S. Border Town, 1,200 Miles From The Border." The story relates the situation in Dalton, Ga., 1,200 miles from the Mexican border. Georgia is the current poster child for the conflict, and Russakoff's piece portrays the struggle from both sides, including the hypocracy of its ellected officials, like Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss, who currently advocates deporting illegal aliens after having intervened on their behalf only a couple of short years ago. Chambliss is one of those people who claims to lead by simply getting in front of whatever mob seems to be on the move at any given moment, bobbing around like a cork in the water, racing towards whatever direction the current will take him.
Improving Democracy:
Arizona has a novel idea for getting out the vote. The good people of the sunshine state are considering whether or not to turn their next election into a lottery. No, not as a means of electing officials, but in an attempt to increase the voter turnout.
Some forces within the state have proposed that $1,000,000 be given to one lucky voter. You can read about the proposal in today's New York Times. The Times also reports the follow statistics that ought to interest anyone interested in odds making:
If the general election in 2004 is a guide, when more than 2 million people voted, the 1-in-2-million odds of winning the election lottery would be far better than the Powerball jackpot (currently about 1 in 146,107,962) but not nearly as great as dying from a lightning strike (1 in 55,928).In Related News:
The Bush administration, as part of its War on the Elderly, wants to cut Medicare payments to hospitals by 20 to 30 percent. The argument is that not all care costs the same and that they want to make payments to health providers (those people who think your grandparents are their private dairy herd) reflect this fact. You can read about the proposal in today's Times.
posted by Jim | 11:03 AM
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