Bob Batz

I’ve never been real good at remembering things. 

I still remember the combination of my locker – 5-4-22-30-6 – at Flint Central High School when I was a senior in 1958. 

But my mind immediately becomes a total blank if somebody asks me “What are the last four digits of your Social Security number?”

Maybe these will help.

I also vividly recall the name of my high school German teacher. It was Gertrude Mae Gostenschelter and she did me a huge favor my junior year by giving me a D-minus in her class.

But I frequently forget my license plate number, all of my kids’ birthdates and, on rare occasions, my own telephone number. Read the rest of this entry »

Andy Hefty

While driving home from the office, I learned more details from the terrorist attack at Fort Hood, Texas.  Yes, you read that right.  This is a terrorist attack.  FBI investigators refused to say so.  Even President Obama glossed over it by calling it a “horrific outburst of violence.”

Terrorist.

But I will call it as I see it – a terrorist attack.  And it should be dealt with accordingly.

Here’s why.

First of all, Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly opened fire upon his own countrymen – his fellow soldiers – on a military installation.  He continued shooting, reloading, and shooting some more.  He wasn’t after a vindictive ex-wife.  He didn’t take revenge on specific individuals that allegedly taunted him for being Muslim.

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Dan Sherrier

The 2009 elections are over, thank goodness, and next up is an opportunity to reshape the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate.

So the main question is: Who do we want in our House?

Unfortunately, we cannot elect Captain America, on account of him being fictional. What would be the next best thing?

Shame we can't have him.

Excluding political ideology, here are the qualities that I believe would make for a great Congressman:

1.) He doesn’t want to be there.

There are about 50 billion other things he’d rather be doing, but someone’s got to serve the district. If nobody better is stepping up to plate, he throws his hat into the ring–not because he sees any personal gain in doing so, but because it’s the best option for his community and country (which does benefit him, too, but not only him.)

He lacks the desire, but not the willingness. He feels he should put in a term or two, maybe three at the most, and then he’s ready to return to his life. Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Calabrese

The Associated Press described it glowingly as “rare bipartisan agreement over the seriousness of the jobless situation.” But there is nothing rare about what Congress did yesterday. When unemployment is high, Washington spends.

Don't know much about economy.

You probably know that there is supposedly a 13-week limit on unemployment benefits. You may or may not know that the limit is largely meaningless, because Congress extends it any time Congress wants to, regardless of which party is in control.

Read the rest of this entry »

Lawrence J. Haas

Pay no attention to Republican euphoria over its gubernatorial victories in Virginia and New Jersey. Ignore Democratic delight at winning an upstate New York House seat for the first time in a very long time.

Every way but forward.

This week’s results portend continuing problems for both parties and, frankly, for the rest of us because they presage more wrangling within each party, more gridlock between them and, in the end, less progress on the nation’s agenda.

The most striking thing about modern American politics is its volatility, and this week’s results only reinforced it.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the latest from Fox News:

Courtesy of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.

Bob Maistros

I can’t believe this. Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right.

Creigh Deeds. Geesh. The Washington Post hands him “macaca” on steroids with that Bob McDonnell treatise story. The “quad-fecta”: McDonnell alienates gays, women in the workforce, every female in Virginia on contraceptives and every couple shacking up from Norfolk to Fairfax.

Thanks for nothing.

Read the rest of this entry »

David Karki

While it’s always a risky business to read larger meaning into a handful of smaller off-year elections, especially when so much time remains and so much can happen before next year’s mid-terms, that has never stopped anyone from trying. So here is what I think one can take away from yesterday’s results:

The club.

• With a good candidate that has proper party backing, victory is possible for conservatives even in bluer districts.

The GOP party bigwigs massively screwed up in backing a Democrat in Dede Scozzafava in New York’s 23^rd U.S. House district.

Read the rest of this entry »