Rep. Dennis Kucinich has served seven terms in Congress, but his home state of Ohio is losing two seats due to redistricting. Washington, however, is adding one. So, if Kucinich were to move to Washington, he feels he’d have a better chance of serving an eighth term.
“I intend to stay in Congress. My work is here. I just don’t know what district I’ll be running in,” Mr. Kucinich told the station.
Stay tuned.
If you read this and this, you’ll understand why many of us are a little jittery when we hear that radiation has made its way to several states right here in the U.S.A. We’ve been told that experts don’t “expect” us to have any health issues as a result because the amounts are negligible. Whew! Close call. Relax.
Everything’s hunky dory.
As one of our commenters noted under the second post I linked to, Massachusetts Rainwater Radiation Likely From Japan:
On the one hand DNA and RNA do have a capacity to repair themselves. On the other hand we die naturally because enough of our cells cease to function properly enough to sustain life.
So statistically, which is what the “experts” are talking about, the health/death rate/average longevity will not be statistically affected by the levels they are claiming. But that does mean that a certain % of people, animals and plants will likely be affected, just not enough of them to shift the %.
And of course the government and industry are known to lie in order to not get the public all upset.
There’s that.
So yes, Americans have their doubts because they are not able to trust all the information that is being disseminated, and because the language is often so ambiguous.
With that in mind, here’s what we learned today from Sunshine State News:
Progress Energy reported detecting “very low levels” of radioactive Iodine 131 in the air over its Crystal River nuclear plant on Florida’s West Coast.
As one of my favorite regular sources for great linkage and commentary, Hugh Kaufman, senior policy analyst with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response noted, “Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee, eh?”
The spokesman for Progress Energy confirmed that, yes, it was the result of nuclear leaks at the Fukushima plant in Japan, but that it did not pose a health threat. I’m sure they’ll “expect” no health threat from these areas, either:
A news release from the utility stated that similar readings were expected at the Harris plant near New Hill, N.C., and the Brunswick plant near Southport, N.C., in the coming days.
I’ve written about radiation being detected in out west here California. Now we can include Nevada:
Nevada and other Western states also have reported minuscule amounts of radiation, but scientists say those presented no health risks.
Oh good. Again, we are being soothed. It feels great, doesn’t it?
Add Washington to the list, where they “don’t think” there will be a problem there either:
“We really don’t think the radiation levels with any scenario will come to public health levels in Washington,” John Erickson, head of emergency preparedness for the state Department of Health, said in an interview Saturday.
On Friday, concentrations of Iodine-131, likely originating from the events at Japan’s damaged nuclear plants, were found in rainwater samples collected from Pennsylvania’s nuclear power plant facilities. [...]
“We do not expect the levels to increase and, in fact, the levels we see now should go down rather quickly over the next three months,” [Governor Tom Corbett] said.
That’s all very reassuring.
However, nobody expected a 9.0 quake, nobody expected an accompanying tsunami, nobody expects a higher magnitude earthquake than has been predicted near Diablo Canyon and San Onofre…
…and nobody expects accuracy from news reports any more, whether about this, politics, military interventions, or Lindsay Lohan. All we can do is learn from as many sources as we can, evaluate, and judge for ourselves.
So. Here we are. Trusting (or not) the information we’re getting about potential health issues, which hasn’t always been as reliable as we would like.
As I write this, I am hearing that radiation has now gotten into the ocean food chain, per Paul Gunter from BeyondNuclear.org on the Thom Hartmann radio show. But we probably shouldn’t expect any problems from that, either.
Bill Gates Sr., Nick Hanauer held a conference call today, and I was invited to participate. It was in regard to Washington state’s Yes on 1098 initiative.
Per an e-mail:
Bill Gates Sr. and Nick Hanauer will be discussing Washington State’s I-1098 – a sort of Robin Hood initiative because it taxes the rich while cutting taxes for the poor and middle-class. As tax fairness falters on the national stage, some of Washington State’s best known civic leaders like Bill Gates Sr. — father of America’s wealthiest man — have stepped up to fix the problem in their state, only to face entrenched opposition from corporate titans.
“Only in places where the wealthy pay their fair share is there economic vitality.” – Nick Hanauer, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and leading 1098 supporter.
According to SeattlePI, “Washington has one of the least fair tax systems in the country… The poorest 20 percent of Washington families currently pay 17.3 percent of their income in state taxes. The highest-earning one percent of families in the state have a “burden” of just 2.6 percent.”
Yes on I-1098 is a growing coalition of respected business, labor, and civic leaders who support a careful, balanced reform of our state’s tax system intended to cut taxes for the middle class and small businesses, while creating a limited tax on the wealthy to provide a stable, dedicated funding source for education and health care.
Participants:
William Gates Sr., prominent Seattle attorney and father of Bill Gates, cofounder of Microsoft
Nick Hanauer, founder of aQuantive and Partner at Second Avenue Partners
My favorite quote from the call:
There’s a difference between a happy story that they’re telling, and a true story, which we’re telling. If a place exists where nobody paid taxes, and everyone lived like a king, it would be in tooth fairy land. It doesn’t exist.
Liveblog:
Nick Hanauer:
Fairness and prosperity are both important to the community. Income tax is a moral issue of fairness, and an economic issue of prosperity.
Since the Reagan Revolution, top 1% has increased 220%. Wealth in bottom 50% declined a third, to about 12%. So, services are under a lot of pressure.
In WA, we have a state tax system that is the most unfair of any state… if you’re working class, you pay 17%, middle class 12%, 2 1/2% if you’re in the top 1%.
Those who benefited most abundantly pay essentially nothing. And they keep coming up with excuses to defend this. I am in the top top 1/10th of 1%.
Trickle down economics, limited government theory is the form this takes. It’s utter hogwash. There are no robust economies in the world that sustain themselves where rich people don’t pay their fair share. If you care about your community, you put your money where your mouth is.
Next: Prosperity. Many who oppose this initiative think it’s bad for the economy of WA. Their statistics are hogwash. All the places on earth where rich don’t pay their fair share are hell holes.
The rich must pay their fair share. If we put income tax in place, all the rich people will leave, they say. Untrue. Theoretically, it implies biz people are money grubbing sociopaths who only care about taxes. But if true that taxes would drive us all away, then income taxes in CA, NY would’ve driven their people away, didn’t happen. Silicon Valley, for instance.
Celebs still live in L.A. despite taxes.
But more important to business people is the social/economic climate that produce opportunity to create wealth. Public education, universities, roads, etc. are more important.
Bottom line: This moral issue is about fairness… as a society, do we want to face the need to live up to obligations to put our money where our mouth is? And have a reasonable perspective on how to invest in public infrastructure that makes prosperity possible?
Bill Gates, Sr.:
WA’s 47th in public school systems. This is inconsistent with the dreams of this state. We want a great education system, that’s what the initiative is about.
We need the money to rectify this. We need to be able to participate in a basic health plan.
Nick:
This is a very modest income tax: 98-99% of citizens won’t be asked to pay anything. If you make $500,000 a couple, you’d pay $5,000. A million? $25,000 total tax bill. 2 million? Total tax bill, around $80,000 a year. Not an onerous tax. Just a way to get the wealthiest to contribute, not in proportion to others, but something to the state that benefits them.
Bloomberg News: Why just the wealthy?
Bill:
Tactical. WA has high antipathy of income taxation. We’re trying to organize a way to fund schools, something that wouldn’t reach everyone in the population, especially targets those who haven’t been called upon to pay their fair share to the state.
Q: Money to education,health care… what if legislature uses the funds as offset? Taking the money out and using it for something else?
Bill:
There’s a constitutional obligation to fund education. The courts are dealing with that. The burden on the legislation would be impossible to avoid.
Financial Times: How did Bush tax cuts play into this in WA? Polls are negative.
Nick:
National debate on taxation is a part of this debate. It reflects an important argument about how to build prosperity. Trickle down and limited government since Reagan is being debated as to whether it works. I don’t think it works unless you’re as rich as me, in which case it works very very well. But the bottom 50%, $32,000 a year, are not doing well. Concentration of wealth is at the very top, tippy top 1/10 of 1%.
I fear for our country. We’re in very bad shape, the dialog is not super productive. You’re gonna see the death of this trickle down thesis over the years as you see it does not work– for the other 99% of you.
President comes in about 5:50 in the first vid.
How I missed this one, I’ll never know, but my pal DSG e-mailed me a link to an article about how evil and liberal the Girl Scouts have become. Who knew they were such Marxist Commie French Kenyans? If only they’d been like that when I was a member.
Hans Zeiger, a Republican candidate for Washington state’s House of Representatives:
One might wonder why the Girl Scouts have been spared the painful attacks that have been launched upon the Boy Scouts by the Left in recent years. The reasons are simple: the Girl Scouts allow homosexuals and atheists to join their ranks, and they have become a pro-abortion, feminist training corps. … If the Girl Scouts of America can’t get back to teaching real character, perhaps it will be time to look for our cookies elsewhere.”
Hey, Zeiger, I’ll thank you leave their cookies out of this. As for the rest of your statement, if I were the Girl Scouts, I’d be thanking you for the compliments.
Maybe you could take a few character lessons from some apparently very inclusive, very wise little girls.
Now why do I have a sudden craving for Chips Ahoy?
Via Think Progress, we see, once again, how tasteful and respectful the Tea Baggers are.
In other polls, President Obama is doing better and the immigration gap widens.
A new CBS News poll finds Americans “are frustrated with nearly everyone in Washington — including President Obama, Congress, and the Democratic and Republican parties — and have become increasingly pessimistic about what the future holds.”
“Seven in ten Americans are dissatisfied with the way things are going in Washington, including 22% who say they are ‘angry’ about the situation. Just 15% overall approve of the job being done by Congress.”
“Opinions of both parties, meanwhile, are at or near historic lows: 55% of those surveyed hold unfavorable views of Republicans, and 54% hold unfavorable views of Democrats.”
Commenters: We have guidelines for comments. Please read them here. Thanks!
The Political Carnival T-Shirt
Modeled by @suzannegypsy
Suzanne Kulperger
Please donate to The Political Carnival
using the Paypal 'Donate' button below.
Have you watched
a Blunt today?
Would you like to donate to The Political Carnival monthly? You can on our Support TPC page.
Lt. Col Barry Wingard is the lawyer for Gitmo detainee Fayiz Al-Kandari. For their ongoing story + related topics, please click on the link below:
Kuwaiti Citizen Detained at Guantanamo since 2002
Translate The Political Carnival via Google
Subscribe to The Political Carnival Newsfeed via Wikio
The Political Carnival is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Photographs on The Political Carnival site (please read):
Photographs from other sources sometimes appear on TPC for humorous or illustrative purposes. As it is not our intention to use these images in any inappropriate manner or to infringe upon any rights held by others, anyone holding legal rights in the use of these images who wishes to have them taken down please contact us immediately requesting such removal, with which we will comply promptly.
TPC RSS Posts Feed
TPC Comments Feed