Federal government: June 2009 Archives

Before starting my first year at Penn State, I attended an orientation session with other students who had been accepted at the university. One of the topics they addressed was how academically and intellectually advanced we were over the country's general high school population.

I wasn't sure whether to be skeptical or alarmed about that information in subsequent years, when I encountered some real dumb asses at that school.

One episode comes to mind immediately. I was at a party where a young woman was talking about a friend of mine whom she considered "hot." But she wasn't sure if she could hook up with him, because he was a "foreigner."

In the extended entry, you'll see a statement that U.S. Rep. Todd Platts, R-York County, released regarding the "cap and trade" bill that passed in the House. Apparently he has some concerns with it.

Here are some more opinions on cap and trade from Warren Buffet ...

From Steven Chu, director of the U.S. Department of Energy ...

And from some creepy, shirtless guy.

These days, you hear a lot about the divisive nature of modern politics. So let me share with you a truly heartwarming instance of bipartisan compassion.

I got an e-mail today from the National Republican Senatorial Committee. They wanted to be sure that I, as a member of the news media, saw the results of a recent poll indicating that a majority of Pennsylvania Democrats want to see Arlen Specter face another candidate in a Democratic primary rather than automatically becoming his new party's pick in the Senate race.

As you no doubt recall, Specter recently changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat, thus helping to give the Democrats a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.

According to the poll by Susquehanna Polling and Research, 63 percent of the Pennsylvania Democrats polled want to see Specter face a primary opponent, vs. 28 percent who want to see him just get nominated and 32.09 percent who are undecided.

Like I said, this notification came from the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Isn't it awfully swell of them to be so concerned about what their Democratic brethren in Pennsylvania want? Heck, I'm getting all choked up just thinking about it.