I enjoy a Sunday newspaper, or at least I used to, before the Seattle PI folded. But, now we are subscribing to the Sunday New York Times and it's like the newspaper of old before newspapers became as thin as a razor and were filled with only  AP wire news without any local news. so, on this Sunday here are the things that caught my interest while reading the weekend papers.

There is a lengthy article about a young woman, Keli Carender in the NY Times. She is the leader of the Tea Party in Washington state and has been active in trying to get the organization going here. The paper reports that when she was asked by the reporter how to cut the deficit without cutting Medicaid and Medicare here is what she said:

"Well," she said, thinking for a long time and then sighing, "let's see. Some days I'm very Randian. I feel like there shouldn't be any of those programs, that it should all be charitable organizations, Sometimes, I think, well maybe it should be just state, and there should be no federal part in it at all. I bounce around in my solutions to the problem."

Ayn Rand wrote against "state imposed redistribution of income" and the Republican party has tagged along with it's attack on Democrats as a "tax and spend" party because of their policy of providing care for Americans. Here, in this quote, we see the difference between the two parties. This is the real evil of of such an unfeeling philosophy: they don't want to help anyone in need. It's everyone for themselves in their mind. Out of a job? Need welfare assistance? Tough! sink or swim but don't come crying to us. No insurance? Have major health problems that will bankrupt you? Too bad, you should have prepared for it. This is America, the land of the free and the brave, so just  be brave, but don't come looking to us for any assistance. People who think like this fit the parable of Jesus about the injured traveler and those who passed him by without helping until the Samaritan stopped. The kind of hard heartiness expressed by people who feel this way is not the America I believe in. Their motto is everyone for themselves when it should be lend a helping hand to those in need.

From the Seattle Times sports section:

"Vancouver residents get rave reviews for their Olympic hospitality, said comedian Argus Hamilton. They love to give directions. They say if you see the mountains you're facing North, if you see the ocean you are facing the West. If you car just got stolen, you're in North Surrey to the East and if you see people without health care waving guns, you're in the States."

In the letters to editor section of the NY Times were letters about Senator Bayh's decision not to run again. My belief is that his decision has a whole more to do with the conflict of his wife's high paid job on behalf of the insurance industry and his declining popularity, but one letter about this made sense to me. The writer, David Kinyon of Minneapolis said he was unconvinced about the Senator's reasons outlined in OP piece he had written. The writer pointed out that in 2001 George Bush "was awarded" the job and had an evenly divided Senate. He nonetheless was able to enact the centerpiece of his economic agenda, "the largest and costliest tax cut in history." The writer noted that throughout his term in office he successfully pushed through highly controversial legislation. He concludes:

"Given Mr. Bush's success, I conclude that the real problem in Congress is not institutional. The real problem is with the Democratic party…a recent vote on President Obama's nominee for a National Labor Relations Board position failed to over ride a threatened Republican filibuster. Amazingly, two Democratic senators, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, joined the Republicans planning to filibuster the confirmation. Until Democratic leaders are willing to stand up against this kind of behavior in their own party, they will never be able to enact their legislative priorities."
 

To that observation, I say: Absolutely right! The Senate and House Democratic leaders are wimps who cannot control their own party members and should be replaced.

Lastly, take a look at David Sax's comments in the NY Times Complaint Box on tipping "Hey, waiter, How  Much Extra Do you Really Expect?" http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/26/hey-waiter-just-how-much-extra-do-you-really-expect/  It makes for interesting reading.