So, I just returned from a town hall meeting with Congressman John Kline. Wow! He basically ran Jaycie, Max and I over trying to get to the AARP lobbyist who was in attendance. I was the only person under 40 and most likely under 50 for most of the meeting. I swear he called in the College Republicans as reinforcements against the sea of grey hairs. The “listening session” was one hour long. However, for the first 35+ minutes Congressman Kline did all the talking. He asked a few questions of the audiences but did not allow any time for listening. He didn’t seem to like that people in the crowd were against privatization. He accused AARP of stacking the crowd. And he also accused the crowd of attacking him personally. It seemed that he called on a few “plants” in the audience to reinforce his points. Like a 23 year old college student that showed up 10 minutes before the meeting was over to say that he can’t afford to put money in a 401(k) plan because he has $40,000 in student loan debt to repay. So, he wants to be able to put his FICA money into a private account. The audience was quick to rebut his points requiring Congressman Kline put a stop to it. I left feeling like not much was accomplished and that Congressman Kline wasn’t really there to listen. Instead he was there to push privatization and gave up when he could not get the crowd to agree with him. This was the first town hall meeting I have ever been to but I will definitely be going to more!
And they’re worried about letting gays in…
Boy Scouts Executive Surrenders in Fort Worth on a Child Pornography Charge
Mr. Smith also responded on behalf of the Boy Scouts in September 2004 when a lawyer and onetime Eagle Scout, Bruce D. Collins, wrote a letter taking issue with the Boy Scouts’ dismissal of an assistant scoutmaster, James Dale, because he was gay. The case reached the Supreme Court and established the Boy Scouts’ right to bar gays under the organization’s own First Amendment right of expressive association.
Mr. Smith replied that “some intolerant elements in our society want to force scouting to abandon its values and become fundamentally different.” He said that Mr. Collins “would do well to communicate his displeasure to those directing their discriminatory assault against his beloved Boy Scouts - the A.C.L.U.”
This proves my point that liberals are smarter! Or the conservatives are too busy being greedy in the market place rather than using their talents to teach others!
Union zeroes in on Target This should be interesting. There is some good information in th article. Here are a couple of things caught my eye.
1. Less than half the company’s workers are covered by Target’s health insurance plan, the union estimates. (It would be interesting to know why half are not covered. Do they not need it? Or is it not offered to them? I want the real facts and not spin.)
2. The union is urging local residents to voice their opposition to the city of West St. Paul’s decision to grant Target $731,000 in tax-increment financing — in which the retailer does not have to pay taxes on the increased value of the site created by its conversion to a SuperTarget. As part of the deal, Target has agreed to create 19 new jobs at the SuperTarget. (What? 19 jobs! $731,000 to create 19 jobs. It doesn’t even say whether those jobs have to be full-time!)
3. Hesse said Local 789 chose the West St. Paul store because it is surrounded by unionized retail chains, including Rainbow Foods, Cub Foods and Snyders.
“Our kind of people live in West St. Paul,” Hesse said. “It ain’t North Oaks. It ain’t Edina. It’s a real working-class, inner-ring suburb, and that’s our base.” (I hate the whole us-against-them that people use. People who live in the city think that everyone in the suburbs is wealthy. It’s so damn irritating. I’ve declared that one of my missions in life is to bridge that gap between the city and suburbs!)
I started my new job today. It’s all kind of crazy. I hate the awkward first few days, but the agency is so small that I am sure I will feel comfortable in a few days. This is the first time in about five years that I am working for pay. I keep forgetting that I am getting paid. I can’t wait to get my first paycheck. I think the job is going to be a good fit with my abilities and philosophy. Although I loved my internship, there were some stark differences in the my philosophy and that of the agency. I’m still a little freaked out with the whole having to go to work everyday thing. I know now that I couldn’t do full-time right now. I’m just not into working. I have been spoiled by Ben. I’m not sure if I will ever work full-time. Maybe I will stay in school forever so that I will have an excuse to never work full-time.
So, I got a letter from the Univeristy of MN accepting me into the MSW program. I have already decided to go the Augsburg because I have heard horrible things about the U plus I am drawn more to the Augsburg campus and program. However, I so happy that I was accepted. I mean it’s a top ranked school and all so it says a lot that I was accepted. I may end up at the Humphrey Institute there in a few years, but for right now I think I will take a little break from school after I finish my MSW.
I got it! I was offered the job today. I am so excited. I’ll be starting on the 21st of March. I haven’t worked for pay in about 5 years! It will be so nice to have some extra money.