Eliminate:
Amy Klobuchar
Elizabeth Warren
Kamala Harris

Save:
Andrew Cuomo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_thinkers_in_science

Approve of Nix.

The Jim Crow Solid South, Civil War and Lincoln would hesitate make me hesitate before voting Democrat, but I'd still do it.

It's one of the reasons I'm a Republican and hopefully will never become a Democrat.

lol

I oppose adding a sales tax to basic necessities.

I do as well.  Also, this bill doesn't state how much revenue would increase from the tax exemption removal.  I just can't sign something written this poorly...

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/11/13/weekinreview/deficits-graphic.html?choices=hzxl45r0

[A BILL]

A BILL

To authorize the Northeast Government to take necessary steps to keep spending at low, but satisfactory, levels for the benefit of long-term sustainability and fiscal responsibility.

Be it enacted by the Assembly of the Northeast Region convened

SECTION 1. TITLE

This legislation may be cited as the ‘Smarter Spending Act of 2012.’

SECTION 2. EXTENSION OF AVAILABILITY OF YEAR-END SAVINGS IN SALARIES AND EXPENSES

1.) 50 percent of a regional agency's unspent funds the end of a fiscal session shall remain available to that agency for subsequent fiscal sessions.

2.) 50 percent of these unspent funds shall be remitted to the Treasury and used for the purpose of deficit reduction.

3.) Unspent funds carried to a subsequent fiscal session may not be taken into account in determining the amount by which an agency will be funded for each fiscal session.

4.) The Governor will be responsible for oversight and reporting how much money which is saved by this legislation is allocated toward the deficit per session.

5.) This act shall go into effect at the start of the next fiscal session.

SECTION 3. CREATION OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE FOR DEBT REDUCTION

1.) The Governor will be authorized to create and maintain a five-member Commission of appointed citizens to look for departments of regional government that can be merged or eliminated, as well as excessive bureaucracy or formalities that can be reduced, under the condition that these changes do not reduce benefits or the sustainability of necessary programs.

2.) During the next fiscal session, the Governor shall report how much money the Commission found can be saved upon making the spending reductions.

I don't see why we shouldn't just let the fund grow over time and use the extra money for future emergencies.  At the moment, I'm against this bill because I also don't see what's wrong with how we're addressing this issue through the budget.

I fail to see the difference between this and the GMI. But anyways, support.

NIT is a bit more specific, in my opinion.   It sounds fairly leftist for a Milton Friedman proposal, with the exception of its abolition of social programs, food stamps, minimum wage, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_Income_Tax

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaranteed_minimum_income

May we see Vigo County, Indiana?

I view immigration as an issue that's both social, economic, and to an extent, foreign policy-related.

Which party do you want to win the presidential election in February?

You may preference two of them.

What is determining the 20% number for the Disaster relief fund. If it is a number included in each budget than it can be changed and fluctuate with every budget.

If we have a bill like Rainy Day, it would be more stable and it is a relatively small number at 1% of revenues. I believe it is equal to 2.4 billion. It forces to put aside some money. When the disaster fund is a portion of the surplus, it is not certain there will be a surplus or how big it will be.

I was digging in the archives and found a surplus protection act. It is old and was wondering if it is still in effect. In it there is talk of rainy fund (the surplus).
http://uselectionatlas.org/AFEWIKI/index.php/Surplus_Protection_Act

I didn't even know we had a law like that on the books, but I'm not sure how enforceable that is because it's merely a statute, and not a Constitutional amendment.

(CNN) -- It's Christmas, but not as you know it: a new book released this week by Pope Benedict XVI looks at the early life of Jesus -- and debunks several myths about how the Nativity unfolded.

...

According to the pope's research, there is also no evidence in the Gospels that the cattle and other animals traditionally pictured gathered around the manger were actually present.

He also debunks the claim that angels sang at the birth, a staple theme of Christmas carols.

...

"The pope helps us to understand the world where Jesus was born. Caesar brought peace to the Roman Empire, but this tiny child brought something much more wonderful: God's peace, eternal life, an end to sin and death," Whitmore added.

"Anyone who's wondering why Christmas came to be such a great celebration in the West can find the answer right here. The pope explains how the birth of Jesus changed history forever."

CNN

Sounds like an interesting read.

Three days.

Please only participate in this survey if you are a registered voter in the IDS.

This poll will run for three days.

Why is there so much dislike for Pelosi? It seems like a different kind of hate than even Reid and Obama are subjected to... What  makes her so different? Is it just that she's a woman? That answer seems too simple.

She's just very liberal, more so than Obama and Reid.

This is of course why certain types consistently babble about so called 'infrastructure' spending. They want to pay off those well connected unions to funnel back money into their political party.

[most]

Well, because I am pretty far from centre by American standards I’ll stick to those things that would most unambiguously make me seem like a nut.

I oppose retributive justice, would legalize prostitution and all most recreational drugs, think we should have a greater volume of immigrants coming into the United States, and all denizens aged sixteen or above should be able to vote (felons (after they've served their punishments, but I think this is a state issue) and folks living in the country illegally included). The state should be taken out of the business of regulating or even incentivizing marriage. We are bestowed with no natural rights because natural law is a construct of the mind and so, too - more likely than not - is God; and those rights we do claim for ourselves cannot be inalienable without abandoning representative democracy... which is not something I am willing to do. References and monuments of a religious nature or content have no rightful place either in the symbols or on property of state, respectively. No taxpayer money should be directed to religious organizations by the state, and no church or organization should enjoy exemption from taxation on account of their religious nature. I reject populism and deeply distrust direct democracy. To take on a Kucinich’esque vibe here for a moment, I further reckon there are many thousands of alien civilizations out there in the cosmos.

Nationalism is overrated. I’d like to do away with the Pledge of Allegiance and Selective Service, favor the establishment of a North American Union and then, someday, a global government with some form of federalism, and think captured terrorists should be treated like prisoners of war. We should work to abolish all most weapons of mass destruction and be willing to dismantle our arsenal of them unilaterally regardless of whether other countries mirror our actions. I feel that ABM tech is something we should proliferate among nuclear powers for a nominal cost, am uncomfortable with the United States being a superpower, feel we should leave the Chinese people be to decide how to settle the ongoing tensions betwixt the PRC and Taiwan, and believe the U.S. should align itself noticeably closer with Palestine than Israel in pursuing a resolution to their longstanding conflict. Also, I reckon regimes should be treated according to the extent to which they provide those rights to their respective peoples that we do to ours instead of cozying up to whichever of them are of the greatest strategic importance to us in pursuing national self-interest. Incidentally, I support cutting defense spending in half, and at least quadrupling what we give out in foreign aid today. (I have no problem with foreign aid in principle, but the system needs to be improved so that it's less corrupt and actually goes directly to the people in need.)

Did I mention that I’m okay with Iran having nukes if other world powers continue to have them?

On the home front I’d like to see a system of proportional representation implemented, a multi-party system established, a greater public broadcasting presence in the media, tax hikes for all income brackets - including the middle class, and an increase to the retirement age. I’m against “buy American” and “buy local” campaigns, want to extend animals more rights than they have today, think the United States should have a cradle-to-grave, social democratic welfare regime, and a guaranteed minimum income. Furthermore, I support greatly increased funding for NASA and investments in building state-run nuclear power stations - the latter as part of a much larger, incremental transition away from using coal and oil as fuels. I think ideas should be drawn from the Pirate Party in reforming property rights, and favor a mixed but nonetheless socialist, market economy in which worker cooperatives compete with a modest regulatory burden from the state but workers’ incomes within these co-ops are linked so that within any given cooperative the de-facto maximum level of compensation one can legally receive is capped at being ten times greater than what the least-handsomely compensated worker there is awarded for their labors.

In regards to the balances of federalism by the way, I'd consider myself somewhat regionalist.

Given enough time more positions would likely come to mind, but this is all I’ve got for now!

Over: Homosexuals, New Deal Dems
Under: Evangelicals, White working class

Not surprised.  Barrow's district is going to be more competitive for the next eight years.

[PROJECTED SURPLUS]

I thought the existing fund was 50%, on account of the rest of it going towards moving the capital to Buffalo.

Nope.

PROJECTED SURPLUS - $18.5 billion
- 50% of the surplus will be placed in a fund reserved for emergencies. The Northeast Assembly will have the power to allocate this funding.
- If the Northeast Region passes the New Capital Relocation Amendment, 50% of the surplus will go toward the development of a new regional capital. If the Northeast does not pass the New Capital Relocation Amendment, this funding will also be placed in the emergency fund.

Disaster Relief Fund

20% of all budget surpluses shall automatically be allocated to a Disaster Relief Fund which may be spent during emergencies at the discretion of the Governor via executive order.

"Emergencies" isn't exactly defined by this, but my interpretation is that 20% of the surplus could be used for natural disasters and the rest of the surplus could be used for economy-related emergencies.