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Lawmakers receive up to $250.00 of tax payer money per day to cover expenses when they travel on official business.  The Wall Street Journal reported that lawmakers are keeping the change when they travel on official business.  Lawmakers are supposed to return unused cash back to the government.  It’s important to remember that when our fat-cat lawmakers travel most of their expenses are covered by local governments in the countries that they are visiting or by the State Department.

“You are all concerned about nickels and dimes, and I’m not,” said Rep. Alcee Hastings (D., Fla.). “You know, in a taxicab in Kazakhstan, I don’t have time to get a receipt—I don’t speak Kazakh.”  I guess that it is easy to be nonchalant about money when it’s tax payer money and not your own hard earned cash.

When I travel for work and I incur expenses I am required to turn in receipts to receive reimbursement.  I would like to propose that our free spending lawmakers front the cash for travel expenses and be required to turn in receipts to receive reimbursement.  Alcee Hastings would be more concerned about nickels and dimes if she was fronting her own cash to cover her expenses while participating in the government travel club.

Cheers!

Dear President Obama,

If you want to make home ownership a reality for the masses you should nationalize the interest rate for home loans at 3%.  You saved the banks now it’s time to save the American Dream for the masses. If you had to pick a loan, which loan would you choose?

$250,000 Loan at a 6% interest rate

$250,000 Loan at a 3% interest rate

I jog by Baxter International’s facilities located on 1700 Ranch Conejo Blvd. in Nebury Park, California on a daily basis.  I’m appalled and disgusted that I have to inhale secondhand smoke as I pass by their facility on a public sidewalk.  I copied the following no smoking policy from Baxter’s website:

Smoke Free Campus Policy: Baxter has the following no smoking policy:

• Smoking will not be permitted anywhere on the Baxter campus including at the property entrance, parking lots and all company owned/leased vehicles.
• This policy applies to all persons in the Baxter facility, including employees, visitors, contractors and temporary employees.
• Employees or visitors who choose to smoke during work hours must do so off-site on their regularly scheduled breaks and meal periods. No additional time will be granted for this activity.

Baxter International - 1700 Ranch Conejo Blvd., Newbury Park, CA

Baxter needs to restrict it’s employees from standing on public sidewalks and streets while smoking dangerous tobacco products.  Baxter employees are also guilty of littering public streets and sidewalks with cigarette butts.  I find this quite disturbing due to the fact that Baxter International is a health care company.

Baxter Employee Exposes the General Public to Second Hand Smoke on Ranch Conejo Blvd

I’m in the process of contacting the city of Newbury Park regarding this important public health issue.  Only time will tell if Baxter International will stop it’s employees from exposing the general public to dangerous secondhand smoke.

I look forward to your comments.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid apologized Saturday for making racially insensitive remarks about Barack Obama during the presidential campaign.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid apologized for making racial comments about President Obama during the presidential campaign.  Senator Reid was trying to get in out in front of the release of a new book entitled “Game Change”.  The book is scheduled to be released to the general public on Tuesday.

The following excerpt from the book demonstrates the senator’s racially insensitive remarks:

“He [Reid] was wowed by Obama’s oratorical gifts and believed that the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama — a ‘light-skinned’ African American ‘with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one,’ “.

Senator Reid made the following statements regarding the controversy:

• “I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African Americans for my improper comments”
• “I was a proud and enthusiastic supporter of Barrack Obama during the campaign and have worked as hard as I can to advance President Obama’s legislative agenda,”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Gesturing to President Obama

The senator called President Obama on Saturday to apologize for his racial comments.  President Obama mad the following statement:

“I accepted Harry’s apology without question because I’ve known him for years, I’ve seen the passionate leadership he’s shown on issues of social justice and I know what’s in his heart. As far as I am concerned, the book is closed.”

The senator is making the usual rounds to maintain his relationship with the black community.  He reached out to Al Sharpton, the NAACP and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.  Only time will tell if the black community will forgive him for making racial comments about President Obama.

Harry really screwed up.  I’m positive that the black community will hold him accountable the next time he comes up for re-election.  Harry needs to go to racial sensitivity training.  Go figure!

I look forward to hearing your comments on this matter.

Google announced the release of their Nexus One smart phone. The phone is based on Google’s Android smart phone operating system. The phone was built in partnership with HTC and will be available for $179.00 from T-Mobile with a two-year contract and for $529.00 unlocked directly from Google.  Verizon Wireless and Vodaphone will offer subsidized phones sometime in the spring of 2010.

Only time will tell if Nexus One will be a true competitor to industry leaders Apple and Research in Motion.  I’m excited to have an additional entrant into the market to spur competition in the smart phone market.  It’s also nice not to be restricted to one carrier (e.g. iPhone) even if it will cost an arm and leg to buy an unlocked phone.

Apple better wake up and unlock the iphone or face the harsh reality associated with an aggressive and competent competitor.  Apple should also rethink their lack of responsiveness to their user community if they want to retain their market share.

Google Nexus One