In a post on RedState, the farm team for CNN contributors, blogger Neal Stevens implies that conservatives would have repealed Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare if they had the opportunity, but that it took too long for Republicans to regain control of Congress and by that time the American people realized those programs were actually really good things:

We’ve never been in this situation before, where we’ll actually win an election on the heels of passage.

Social Security: Passed in 1935. Republicans take House and Senate in 1947, 12 years later.

Medicare and Medicaid: Passed in 1965. Republicans take Senate in 1981, 16 years later.

Obamacare: Passed in 2010. Republicans take House in 2011, one year (9 months, actually) later?

There’s just no comparison. We can fight back before much of it even takes effect, not over a decade later when the benefits are entrenched.

Republicans are jumping at the opportunity to kill something that will help millions of Americans because they have a chance to do it before the American people can realize its full benefits. That pretty much defines the party of no.

Seems strange that these same Republicans were saying people should oppose reform because it would hurt Medicare. It’s more like the party of lies, fear, and no.

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A post today from the CNN Political Ticker Blog had the headline “DNC falls short of RNC in September cash haul.”

The Democratic National Committee raised just over $8 million last month, according to a party source – a total that would put the DNC behind the Republican National Committee for the month, which reported earlier Tuesday that they brought in $8.74 million in September.

At this point the headline is accurate, though with $740 thousand being the difference falls short sounds a little worse than if it was “RNC edges out DNC in September.”

But the for the entire third quarter of the year, the DNC edged out the RNC by around $1.3 million, the first time the Democratic Party has topped the GOP in fundraising for a quarter since the spring of 2004.

Wait a second, the headline is about the RNC raising more money in September, but the DNC outraised the RNC for the quarter, and it’s the first time in 5 years? Their headline isn’t incorrect, but it’s not the actual story. Plus, notice how they use the lighter “edged” when talking about the DNC outraising the RNC by $1.3 million.

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Today is Blog Action Day and this time it is dedicated to the issue of climate change. Instead of writing a post about climate change I decided to find some of the better creative commons photographs from Flickr that illustrate the damage that is being done to the planet due to fossil fuel emissions. For more information about young people and the fight against climate change check out the Energy Action Coalition.

Photo by Tim Norris

Photo by Earth Lab

Photo by Adam Peleg

Photo by Earth Lab

Photo by davesag

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Just to show that I am not taking a few comments and getting riled up about them, here is a sample. There are 87 more pages of comments like this that I didn’t even get through. This is why Republicans call progressives elitist.

Huffington Post 4-10
Huffington Post 4-9
Daily Kos Diary

ASU, a third rate school in a third rate state.

Racist bigots.

Obama’s already got degrees from Harvard and Columbia. Why would he need a degree from third-rate ASU?

Arizona state is a joke. They are best known for their rowdy beer drinking frats than their educational excellence.

Arizona State? Who would want to admit to earning a degree from that place? Earned or honorary.

ASU is putting on Pecksniffian airs. ASU is a third rate institution. It is a party notorius school.

ASU home of mental midgets.

He shouldn’t speak at their commencement: It’s a third rate university.

Not even a safety school.

That’s ok…Obama doesn’t really need an honorary degree from Arizona State. He can get one from any other commuinity college, anytime.

He already has one from Harvard which has a lot more prestige than some Okie college.

Didn’t you know, Arizona has become the right wing capitol of America. Of course it doesn’t want to honor a person of colour, particularly one who is far smarter than anyone on their second rate staff. With two right wing senators-one a confirmed Neo Con, the state has little left to hide including that which goes directly to ASU’s ideology-which should _never_enter the equation in a real school of higher learning. ASU has shamed itself for the last time becoming the Pepperdine of Arizona-a corporatist school of lower learning-the FOX News of the University System.

What standards did ASU set for Raul Castro when he got his “honorary degree”? Though a degree, honorary or earned from a third rate school(didn’t ASU used to be a glorified high school or something) is no prize.

ASU isnt that a internet college, un credited? ? ?

The President with attend, and gracefully deliver his address. He will then, privately, recall this as just one of many, Close Encounters of Third Rate Minds.

ASU won’t confer an honorary degree on a former Law Professor from The University of Chicago? Isn’t that sort of like a Junior High School refusing to give a Certificate of Perfect Attendance to a Rhodes Scholar?

Maybe O needs to start working on that coveted ASU pool maintenance or landscape contractor certificate to merit consideration? Maybe next year!

Harvard….Arizona State University…Harvard….Arizona State University…hmmm….I’d rather have the REAL degree from Harvard.

an honorary degree from a school that is way down everyone’s safety school list? I think I’ll pass.

It’s academia (aside from that joke of a higher learning institution, ASU) and the MSM, the public who are “concerned.” You really think a magna cum laude graduate of Columbia and Harvard, former Pres. of the Harvard Law Review, is worried about a phony, meaningless degree from ASU?

Wow, how embarrassing for ASU students and faculty. Wonder what it feels like to have the entire planet pointing a finger at you and laughing.

Sarah Palin would be much more suited to speak to these ASU clowns. President Obama is far too intelligent to get down to the ignorant level of ASU faculty and students.

protecting those who flunked out of cosmetology school and ended up at ASU?

Obama earned two (magna cum laude) degrees from two of the MOST prestigious institutions of higher learning in this country, Columbia and Harvard, including a juris doctorate. But he’s not worthy of a joke of a degree from some bottom of the pile, “open enrollment,” online U? lol It’s laughable.

ASU ? A degree from their is like earning your GED.

ASU is hardly the Harvard of the West. In days gone by ASU students observed that their vacations started in September and ended in June.

The arid zona hot heads are not very impressive.

Do you really think that he cares about the honorary degree or 6 insignificant academics from a third tier party school?

Can 95% of the citizenry name an ASU graduate (Other than Pat Tillman) or anything of significance from ASU?

Just for the record:
ASU:
SAT’s of entering freshman
Critical reading –470-590
Math — 480 – 620
92% acceptance rate

Harvard
SAT’s of entering freshman
Critical reading — 700-800
Math –700-790
In Wikipedia:
Harvard Law is second strongest law program in the US of A
9% acceptance rate

Who gives a shit what ASU (aka: Billy Bob’s School of Faith Healing and Typewriter Repair) thinks? Snubbing the President might well be the highlight of the committee’s otherwise dreadfully obscure life. Let ‘em have it … its probably as close as they’ll ever come to mattering. The President doesn’t need these inbred shit-kickers to validate him.

Snoberry from ASU to an HLS, Columbia Grad? Haha! As I said above, it’s like someone from DeVry snubbing an M.I.T. grad.

It is a mediocre land-grant school in a state that doesn’t especially value higher education. The state is overrun by conservative mid-westerners who retire there and who hardly represent the liberal mores of its natives. Just illustrates how narrow their views really remain. With degrees from Harvard and Columbia President Obama isn’t missing anything.

Look I live in Arizona and can tell you that a degree from ASU is almost worthless so an Honorary degree would be even more so! Now if this was about The University of Arizona that would be an entirely different story altogether! ASU ; rich California kids that could not cut it at UCLA or USC, U of A ; honor roll students from everywhere!

ASU’s admission criteria is that your check clears.

Why would the United States President speak at this minor league university anyway. They should be falling all over themselves to give him their stupid honorary degree.

I’m sorry, I didn’t get the memo that ASU was known for its great academics. With a school so plagued by budget cuts, staff cuts, less student intake, and getting rid of most of its satellite colleges, I wouldn’t deem this to be a good school to accept an honorary degree. This just bothers me. They barely crack the top tier schools and they have the gal to reject my President who went to two Ivy League schools. Let’s just say, ASU would NEVER be on the minds of anyone attending the distinguished schools Barack did, and having accomplished what he has by 46 is amazing.

I really hate to say it, but if he were a white president, maybe this would have happened but I seriously doubt it. By the way i know some people that got honorary degrees from ASU in Pool Cleaning and Golf course lawn mowing!

I believe ASU has that backwards; they need to come up to President Obama’s level. The president is a very smart man. I bet several of ASU students bought their degrees instead of earning the degree.

ASU is not exactly the keystone of academic excellence. Party on Tempe bikini girlz!

By the way, ASU is a state funded school, albeit not a particularly good one.

He’s too inexperienced because he graduated from Harvard instead of beer-bonging in the desert sun. His degree alone–forget the rest of his accomplishments–outweighs the “honor” they are denying him.

I, for one, do not think you have a clue what you’re talking about. Why don’t you do some research on your schools? Harvard is most always ranked in the top 10, most times they are rated No. 1. Harvard’s SAT range is 1400-1590 and they admit approximately 9% of those who apply. Columbia is also rated highly. Their SAT range is 1350-1520 and their admission rate is 27%. ASU, consistently NEVER in the top 10, never ever, not once. Their SAT range is 990-1230 and their admission rate is 79.4% (which would seem to indicate a “degree mill” with so many students gaining admission.

My, aren’t we charitable today. ASU wishes it were a third-rate school.

Jun 2, 2008, ASU is ranked 121st in the top tier of “national universities” by the US News and World Report ranking of US colleges and universities. What an embarrassment to have even an honorary degree from ASU. More’s the better for our POTUS.

A STATE university and consider the state it resides in. No more needs to be said.

ASU denies a Harvard graduate an honorary degree? Why would he want to sully his Harvard pedigree by mixing with a mongrel of a school anyway?

Do they think that his feelings will be hurt. I’m sorry was it Columbia and then Harvard…oh what school is this? ASU? Where the hell is this? Oh Arizona? Enough said!

it just goes to show you that a fake degree from ASU is more challenging than a real one … that’s gotta make the ASU alumni feel better

The Man has a degree from Harvard- I doubt he cares about a third-rate state school.

My how selective ASU has become, as I remember the only people who went there could not get into any other university.

It used to be that if you couldn’t get in to the University of Arizona (a first-class institution), you knew you always get in to Arizona State. It’s amusing that a third-rate school deems the President of the United States not yet qualified to receive an honorary degree.

ASU? Second rate school! USC wannabes. If I were the president, they would be looking for another commencement speaker. A man of Obama’s intelligence and letters deosn’t need an honorary anything from the likes of Podunk U in Arizona.

Apparently, Arizona State University (I use the latter word loosely) should adopt as its new motto the following: “When I graduate high school, I went to ASU; I went in dumb, I come out dumb too.”

Uhhh. The Arizona Solar Power Laboratory is a joke. Its the nickname for the area where students like to hang out and set up tanning chairs on cool days (98 F) to get suntans!

It’s two-bit college and I wondered how Obama would have even accepted an invitation to speak.

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In February a group of Young Democrats in Arizona created a website to promote a proposal they authored to fix what many argue is a broken Arizona Democratic Party. Initially they chose to do so anonymously, fearing, and it turns out rightly so, that some older members of the Party would disregard their ideas without consideration because of their youth.

Their website and proposal made a big splash, getting to the point of reaching national attention on the Huffington Post where they decided to reveal their identities.

Many of the comments on the initial post on Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion about the proposal attacked the anonymous authors for not revealing their identities. The later post revealing the names shows why they chose anonymity in the first place.

The comment thread on that post became a back-and-forth about the youth of the authors. A few commenters, posting anonymously (ironically), attempt to dismiss the entire proposal by attacking the youth of the authors. Here are a few of the comments (all emphasis mine):

I’m all for kids trying to help on campaigns and play a role, and I understand they are giving themselves kudos on this blog, but these are truly bad ideas that have no place in a party that should be focused on winning.
(…)
We can all agree that things were not perfect in 2008, but anyone worth a salt has to admit that consequences of implementing the really naïve and elementary ideas outlined in this document would make things much worse in 2010.

Yikes! Did you read that schoolhouse dribble? The document was completely devoid of any intellectual heft, cogent strategy, or tactical know-how. No wonder they submitted it as anonymous…they probably wished they stayed that way.

It turns out that all of the authors have campaign experience and a number of them have been campaign managers of successful campaigns for Democrats, even in Republican areas, yet by virtue of relative youth (20s) some people completely disregard their ideas, even when none of the “old hats” are offering any ideas of their own.

The new President of the Young Democrats of Arizona, Pat Burns, has done a good job of defending young activists, and his comments on the post are worth reading.

I want to point out that a great deal of the older members of the Party are very supportive of youth and welcomed the authors’ attempt to foster a discussion about the direction of the Arizona Democratic Party. However, there are still outspoken critics within the establishment that attempt to silence young voices, and in this case even attack the character of young activists.

We have made a lot of progress in earning the respect of the older members of our state parties, but it is clear that there is still much further to go. I applaud those Young Democrats who put themselves on the line to make their voices heard, and encourage others to do the same in their own states and communities.

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Online discussion and blog commenting is often characterized by its worst examples. Many people write off the idea of online discussion and commenting because of this. Not all online discussions follow the stereotype of thoughtless, angry, grammatically challenged, racist, homophobic, or cruel statements slung by people hiding behind a curtain of anonymity.

I wanted to share with you an example of a good online discussion with thoughtful comments that highlights the value of the online medium. Too often only the bad examples get talked about.

This discussion is taking place on orgtheory.net about a thought experiment posed by Fabio Rojas on human capital theory:

Classic debate concerning the school/income correlation: Does education actually give you skills that make you valuable? Or is it merely a signal that you are smart and hard working? Here’s another thought experiment: Say person X went to MIT and got a computer science degree. Then say person Y logged into Academic earth, the web site of free university courses, and listened to every free lecture in the engineering curriculum at MIT. She then also downloaded all the free lecture notes from the MIT CS department. And she did all the homework problems. Who would make more money, in the long run, after graduation? Why? If you believe Y will make more or just as much, why don’t you quit school and just self-educate?

Rojas takes a shot at addressing the question later in the post, and a number of commenters (myself included) have engaged in the discussion with thoughtful comments and ideas. Take a look at the discussion, because that is what we should aim for in online discourse.

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JOHN MCCAIN: “Now we’ve got the cables. We’ve got talk radio. We’ve got the bloggers. I hate the bloggers. We’ve got all kinds of sources of information.”

I wonder if the cables ever hang out with the internets.

Hat tip to Crooks and Liars.

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Join 29-year old Donald Betts Jr., candidate for Kansas’ Fourth Congressional seat tomorrow for a live-blog Q&A.

Tomorrow, July 3, 2008
5:00 PM Central Time
www.futuremajority.com

The Facebook event for the live-blog is here.

The DailyKos diary about the live-blog is here.

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The Young Democrats of America have redesigned their blog and it looks great. Go check it out.

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I have had a number of friends over the last week tell me that they are starting to get into RSS feeds and want to know which sites they should start subscribing to. Here is a list of some of my favorites.

Future Majority

WireTap Magazine

TechPresident

YDA Blog

The Bivings Report

CIRCLE

Campus Progress

Rock the Vote blog

epolitics

IPDI Blog

Pew Internet

There are a lot more good sites to subscribe to out there (I myself subscribe to 550), so look around. When you see an interesting article or a link to a post that interests you consider subscribing to that feed.

What are your feed suggestions?

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