Republicans Give Comfort to America’s enemies

Sound familiar? A similar phrase echoed throughout the 2000s, led by cheerleaders Karl Rove and President Bush, painting democrats as week on national security. Now, as congressional republicans work to block a nuclear arms pact with Russia and fight to remove the body screeners at our nation’s airports, it is time for democrats to call out the fact that republicans are truly putting politics before policy while our enemies enjoy the show.

Dana Milbank reminded us today in the Washington Post that the GOP doesn’t seem to remember 9/11.  She cites the nuclear treaty vote and airport screeners as prime examples.

First, the nuclear treaty, which expires in December:

“…there’s a risk Russia will retaliate by removing its logistical support for the U.S. war in Afghanistan, abandoning its cooperation in preventing nuclear proliferation, and thwarting U.S. efforts to keep Iran from gaining nuclear weapons.

“But don’t take his word for it. Listen to Richard Lugar, top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations committee and one man who still puts the national interest above political considerations. ‘We’re talking today about the national security of the United States of America,’ he pleaded on Wednesday. ‘[T]his treaty must be ratified and be ratified in this session of the Congress…. We’re talking about thousands of warheads that are still there, an existential problem for our country. To temporize at this point I think is inexcusable.’”

As for the airport security backlash over the imaging screens and pat downs, GOP leaders claim it is a violation of civil liberties. Are you kidding me? Our enemy is obsessed with getting bombs on our planes and taking them down. Remember the Christmas Day bomber last year? The intelligence is real and I would rather have more safety measures in place than risk another 9/11.

Apparently the GOP doesn’t seem to care about national security.

On the move…to McKinney!

Wow! I can’t believe its been well over a year since I’ve posted anything to this blog. I’m much more of a blog reader than author but I hope to jump start this blog in the coming months.

Today is my last day at Booz Allen Hamilton, a place I have enjoyed giving my heart and soul to for the last three years. I joined the firm to help build up the company’s social media and digital marketing capability. I can look back and say that I made an impact. I have enjoyed helping our federal clients understand social media and develop programs that have led to increased transparency, public participation and dialogue between government and citizens. I’m most proud of the work we’ve done for the Military Heath System. Our service members sacrifice so much for us and they deserve the highest quality health care in the world. Many are suffering from co-occurring conditions – depression, PTSD, traumatic brain injury, drug abuse, alcohol abuse – that often lead to family and vocational struggles. It is these men and women that I have served throughout my career at Booz Allen.

Now for another adventure. This time I head to McKinney, Texas to support the marketing efforts at TownSquareBuzz.com, a hyper-local community news and connection portal. We launch the site in about 10 days. I can’t wait to tell ya’ll about it. Stay tuned!

Have a safe and happy Halloween! What are you going to be?

Good-bye Bank of America…YOU SUCK!

I’ve been banking with BofA for nearly 9 years. I’ve loved their service and nationwide access. It has been a joy banking with them until I discovered they are slowing draining my accounts with their fees.  The policy was updated on June 5, 2009 so watch your accounts too!

They’ve got a $35 overdraft or non-sufficient fund (NSF) fee….the highest in the industry! That one doesn’t matter to me because I always have plenty of cushion but it’s the principle.

What threw me over the edge was the $5/month fee they slapped on my savings account and $12/month on my checking account. Sure, hit us when we’re down. That’s the American way!

Let me know if you’ve been happy with your bank. Change is good. BofA can keep theirs.

We need health care reform!

Why?

1. Ends Discrimination for Pre-Existing Conditions: Insurance companies will be prohibited from refusing you coverage because of your medical history.
2. Ends Exorbitant Out-of-Pocket Expenses, Deductibles or Co-Pays: Insurance companies will have to abide by yearly caps on how much they can charge for out-of-pocket expenses.
3. Ends Cost-Sharing for Preventive Care: Insurance companies must fully cover, without charge, regular checkups and tests that help you prevent illness, such as mammograms or eye and foot exams for diabetics.
4. Ends Dropping of Coverage for Seriously Ill: Insurance companies will be prohibited from dropping or watering down insurance coverage for those who become seriously ill.
5. Ends Gender Discrimination: Insurance companies will be prohibited from charging you more because of your gender.
6. Ends Annual or Lifetime Caps on Coverage: Insurance companies will be prevented from placing annual or lifetime caps on the coverage you receive.
7. Extends Coverage for Young Adults: Children would continue to be eligible for family coverage through the age of 26.
8. Guarantees Insurance Renewal: Insurance companies will be required to renew any policy as long as the policyholder pays their premium in full. Insurance companies won’t be allowed to refuse renewal because someone became sick.

Learn more from the WH.

DoD needs your ideas around psychological health and TBI

As most readers know, I am the social media lead for Health.mil and today I want to give a shout out to the Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE) for opening up their doors to agencies, organizations and individuals to submit ideas and concepts with regard to psychological health or traumatic brain injury.

As the blog indicates:

Submitters are asked to include evidence for their submissions, as we are looking for evidence based tools. Two subject matter experts review all submissions and determine their relevance to DCoE’s mission and the level of evidence to support it. If the concept is relevant and has sufficient evidence, the reviewers determine what audience is appropriate for the submitter, and they are invited to share their ideas either in person or through teleconference/VTC.

This is a great step in creating a more open dialogue and pulling in the knowledge and experience to get the best ideas implemented.  I’d like to see DCoE open up the process even more by letting everyone see what has been submitted and have the submissions voted on by others in the health community.   We will get there.

If you have a concept or idea, go ahead and submit it here!

Taste the Rainbow

I am loving the new Skittles.com! Notice how the content disclaimer pops up before you can even access the site. How’d they do that?

Meg Whitman for Governor

I sure hope not! Gawker has some good analysis:

She talks about the 1.3 million jobs she “created” among people making their business selling goods on eBay. But most of those people were already in business, and just found a new sales outlet on eBay. How did Whitman help them? By raising listing fees and forcing them to use eBay’s PayPal, increasing her company’s cut of their sales. She also overpaid for acquisitions, including $2.6 billion on Skype, a voice-over-Internet startup which had little to do with the rest of eBay’s business.

Her career as eBay’s CEO, in other words, looks like that of a tax-and-spend liberal. A spokesman for Whitman characterized her as “retired and bored” just a few months ago. Any bets on how long before this quixotic attempt at politics, fueled by her $1.4 billion eBay fortune, ends with her being retired and bored once more?

You know she’s doing it for more power.

Republicans good for balance

Sure, we need an economic stimulus and we need it fast. However, we need to make sure it is stripped of wasteful spending. Being a fiscal conservative, I’m with the Republicans on this one. Sorry, Mr. President, but it’s time to take charge and stand firm against wasteful pet projects that won’t do anything to stimulate the economy.

Here’s to the Republicans, who will certainly bring balance and debate to our great democracy.

Verizon FiOS days are numbered

Well, at my household that is. Verizon FiOS, being the greedy smucks they are, required a 2-year contract for our TV/internet package. We’re at the 1 year mark and the service has only worsened since it was first installed. Our DVR works a quarter of the time, wireless is out half the time, video on demand is out 3/4 of the time.

My family in Maryland has loved the service so what gives Virginia? Too much demand?

Verizon, you have one year and counting to improve your service or I’m going back to COX. And I never thought I’d say that but COX was an outstanding service provider in comparison.

FEMA Press Conference on Twitter

The FEMA Administrator will be on Twitter on Monday, Jan. 12 to discuss the direction of the Agency.  I hope he lets us know whether he thinks FEMA should stay within Homeland Security or be a stand-alone entity.

The Press Conference Deets:

When: Monday, January 12, 2009 from 3 – 3:30 pm EST
Where: FEMA’s Twitter profile
Who: FEMA Administrator David Paulison

I will be listening!