Jack Johnson & Ben Harper
“Gone”

I don’t think so! Look closer…

(Click on Image to enlarge)

It would appear VP, Dick Cheney is an avid reader of ours.

Yeah, they are so doing it for the money it pays:

Bush paid $221,635 in taxes for 2007

WASHINGTON - President Bush and his wife paid $221,635 in federal taxes on an adjusted gross income of $923,807 for the year 2007.

The income total includes a $150,000 advance received by Laura Bush for the children’s book she co-authored with her daughter, Jenna.

Last year, the president and Mrs. Bush paid $186,378 in federal taxes on their income of $765,801.

Bush’s salary as president is about $400,000.

Why can’t we vote in someone that has a clue what it’s like for the rest of Americans?

Via Digby, today’s the last day to vote for your favorite female blogger out of the ten listed. There are many other great female bloggers, of course, but they have to cut the list off somewhere, and it’s a nice way to honor some very good work or maybe discover a new blogger.

(Cross-posted at Vagabond Scholar)

New York Times Op-Ed Columnist, Paul Krugman, discusses the disgusting lack of health insurance in America. It truly is disgusting:

Health Care Horror Stories

Not long ago, a young Ohio woman named Trina Bachtel, who was having health problems while pregnant, tried to get help at a local clinic.

Unfortunately, she had previously sought care at the same clinic while uninsured and had a large unpaid balance. The clinic wouldn-t see her again unless she paid $100 per visit - which she didn-t have.

Eventually, she sought care at a hospital 30 miles away. By then, however, it was too late. Both she and the baby died.

You may think that this was an extreme case, but stories like this are common in America. [...]

The end result is that the uninsured receive a lot less care than the insured. And sometimes this lack of care kills them. According to a recent estimate by the Urban Institute, the lack of health insurance leads to 27,000 preventable deaths in America each year.

UPDATE:

Some interesting numbers from KnoxNews.com:

In Tennessee between 2000-2006, the report said, more than 3,600 people 25-64 years of age died as the result of a lack of health insurance. Uninsured people are 25 percent more likely to die prematurely than adults with private insurance.

Krauthammer has officially flown over the cuckoo’s nest.

Well now he’s gonna be good and pissed……..

Militants in Iraq killed on Friday the brother-in- law of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the city of Najaf, some 180 kilometres south of the capital Baghdad, Sadrist sources said.

Sources in al-Sadr’s office told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that Riyad al-Nuri, one of al-Sadr’s closest aides, was killed by militants but no further details were given.

More at Monsters&Critics

Juan Cole’s updates on Iraq

“McCain leads Obama among men, whites, Southerners, married women and independents.”

Nothing surprising there except for the independent vote. (Well, not too surprising . This easily swayed group did, after all, help put Bush into office - twice!)

I’ve read more than several people state that, once the dem nomination was over with, the party would come together and wipe the floor with McCain. I’m starting to have my doubts.

McCain erases Obama lead

WASHINGTON - Republican Sen. John McCain has erased Sen. Barack Obama’s 10-point advantage in a head-to-head matchup, leaving him essentially tied with both Democratic candidates in an Associated Press-Ipsos national poll released Thursday.

The survey showed the extended Democratic primary campaign creating divisions among supporters of Obama and rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and suggests a tight race for the presidency in November no matter which Democrat becomes the nominee. [...]

An AP-Ipsos poll taken in late February had Obama leading McCain 51-41 percent. The current survey, conducted April 7-9, had them at 45 percent each. McCain leads Obama among men, whites, Southerners, married women and independents.

Clinton led McCain, 48-43 percent, in February. The latest survey showed the New York senator with 48 percent support to McCain’s 45 percent. Factoring in the poll’s margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, Clinton and McCain are statistically tied.

To update my recent (ridiculously long) post on John McCain, the pieces on “100 years” just keep coming - or I keep finding them. In this round, here’s Dave Tiffany (the NH questioner), Hendrik Hertzberg, Josh Marshall, DDay #1, DDay #2, Somerby #1, Somerby #2, and Somerby #3 on “100 years.” Feel free to pass on any other key posts I-ve missed.
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