Observations
Some unrelated incidents...
The Conservative Political Action Conference drew about 10,000 people to their annual confab. They heard from the usual suspects, many who proffered thoughtful remarks, given the setting, and some who sought to rouse the rabble, though, you know, like, um, subtly. But a key reason for the attendance of a number of the speakers – Pawlenty, Romney, Gingrich, and others – was to gain support for a presidential run in 2012. However, a poll of delegates, which attracted less than a third of those present, declared Libertarian Ron Paul as the top choice. Romney, who won the last three years, placed a not-too-close second. The others, including an absentee Palin, finished distantly in single-digit land. Also, a majority of those polled said they weren’t happy with the choices. It was noted that Paul’s victory elicited boos from among the attendees.
The California legislature is struggling to apply a 20% penalty to corporate and wealthy cheats. They’re facing opposition from several large business organizations who say it ain’t fair. Pshaw, the feds penalize cheats. The same legislation would let people who short-sell their homes not have to pay taxes on the difference that the banks have to eat. (So if you sell your home for $150,000 and the bank takes a $300,000 loss, you don’t have to pay taxes on that amount.) Arnold Schwarzenegger is undecided on whether he will veto the meausre.
In other Arnold news, the governor slammed fellow GOPers for their gross hypocrisy. He pointed out that many Republicans in Washington trashed the economic stimulus package while at the same time taking credit for the jobs that money created back home.
And finally, both the U.S. Senate and the FDA knew that the diabetes medicine Avandia might be causing heart attacks. Maybe tens of thousands of them since 1999. The maker, GlaxoSmithKline, says it ain’t so. Who you gonna believe?
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