There are places that do not observe DST, like Arizona. The question is, why do we still observe it in the rest of the USA?
In researching this topic I found that I had a misconception, and one that is propagated even further like in movies like National Treasure. I grew up being told/taught that Ben Franklin gave us DST and the purpose was to allow farm kids daylight hours to do chores after school. But from my reading, the men pushing for DST were doing it more for Golf (and other outdoor activities). Congress actually repealed DST in 1919. They had to send the measure to Woodrow Wilson but he vetoed it twice. The second time his veto was overridden. So why do we have DST today? Lobbyist. That's right, according to what I have found, different Lobbyist groups pressed Congress to reinstate DST. Everything from Potato Farmers to Athletic Equipment providers saw that their products were used and bought more during DST hours. So, DST is probably good for some industries, but what does it cost?
I have seen wild figures thrown out that switching back and forth saves the average person $12 per year in electric bills, to that it cost the USA anywhere from $480 million up to $1.7 billion. You may be asking where does the $1.7 billion come from? It's basically from saying it takes every person in a DST area in the USA about 10 minutes to change the clocks, and the average hourly salary in the USA was 17.57in 2007, so when the math is done, it costs $1.7 billion in wage hours to change all the clocks twice a year. I think that is stretching it a bit. Just think how much it costs to shower each day. ;o)
For me the biggest cost to people is what it does to your internal time clock. Some people like me adjust relatively easy to the time change. But others, like my wife, struggle with the time change. If you are more sluggish because you woke up an hour earlier, that could be affecting everything from work production to increased traffic accidents.
So, do you like DST or would you like to see politicians repeal it again.
And don't forget - CHANGE YOUR CLOCKS AHEAD 1 HOUR TONIGHT!
I know I owe a post on the PA CD-12 special election, and more info on John Murtha, but it's really snowing hard. A bunch of us have moved cars, moved snow, taken good care of the guys with the bobcats and checked on all the elderly in the neighborhood. (We don't trust them when we call, all they ever say is "we're fine" so we actually go over and check for heat, food, and to make sure no one who has had a heart attack previously is outside shoveling.)
Thanks to some evaporation and melting, we were down to about 18 inches in many uncleared areas when this snow started. We have 10 new inches on the ground, and are expecting another foot before it stops around midnight. Unlike the snow a few days ago, which was really powder, this is heavy and mixed with freezing rain.
The photo is off my back deck. If you see the little gray thing towards the left near the trees, that's a stone and brick thing that has something to do with drainage. It's about 5 feet tall, and only about 2 feet are sticking up from what used to be a ponding area. Wind, which we've had a lot of, tends to send snow to that area.
We don't usually have weather like this. Which is to say, according to the local news, we are 1 inch from the most snow on the ground at one time in recorded history.
So anyway - I'll hopefully be back to posting tomorrow, and hoping all day that my roof holds....The picture on the right was taken on a patch of grass two days ago at the local park. I miss no opportunity to show off Olivia!
I'm a big believer in the US Constitution, all of it. Including the Amendments. Including the freedom of religion part. So I'm okay with the suit in California which would allow chaplains/ministers/rabbis/related into prisons who represent faiths beyond Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim or Native American. Those five are the only ones currently allowed. The Pagan who filed the lawsuit appears to not have standing, but overall, you want religion in prison, it seems okay. Not to Wallbuilders. They have filed an amicus brief saying that only Christianity is covered by the First Amendment. They might give on a few other monotheistic religions, like Judaism, but maybe not. If religious memory serves, Jesus was Jewish before he was Christian, but who knows...
On a different topic, have you given any money to the DNC lately? I stopped giving money during the health care fiasco because I didn't want any of my hard earned dollars potentially going to a blue dog. Some people agreed with me, but others felt that Democrats were Democrats. Well, it turns out that the DNC has given $500,000 or HALF A MILLION DOLLARS to that bastion of Democratic ideals: Ben Nelson. Yes, THAT Ben Nelson. The one who blackmailed the rest of the country into an illegal give-away to Nebraska. The creep who delayed health care reform JUST LONG ENOUGH for Scott Brown to be elected. You can see the financial disclosure form here.
And finally this early morning, I bring you what may well be the most obnoxious political ad of all time. It's from a guy named Dwight McKenna, who is running for Orleans (LA) Parish Coroner against 9-term incumbent Dr. Frank Minyard. It should be noted that McKenna is a convicted felon. When he was on the Orleans Parish School Board, he was convicted of Federal tax evasion. But he's running, and here's his ad. The backstory on the alleged crime is here.
If you live anywhere in the US except Hawaii, the very southern tip of Florida, or along the western edge of the west coast, you're freezing! And so, a Saturday collection to warm you - some serious, some worth a chuckle, a few to make you shake your head, and the last to make you laugh out loud.
First, the serious: HuffPost is promoting Move Your Money. The idea is to get people to move their money out of the big banks that received all the tax dollars, and into local banks. Remember, all banks need a certain amount in reserve to function, if people remove their savings and checking accounts, it greatly diminishes the worth of the bank.
In Philadelphia, they tested the TSA dogs who sniff for bombs. A number failed. Most people will shake their heads at this, but if you fly regularly through Philadelphia, and know what it smells like as soon as you walk outside the terminal, you'll understand the dogs' confusion. In other Pennsylvania news, two cafeterias and five snack bars in the Capitol Complex were shut down (albeit have been reopened). None had been inspected in more than five years, and when they were in late December, there were big piles of mouse and rat droppings. This is where the State Assembly and Senate eats. Some people think that of all the potential health violations, "rats" is the most apt, given the ongoing corruption charges, but who's to say?
Final Philadelphia story: we've reported before on the tax cheats in Philadelphia who owe back property taxes (some going back 28 years) AND work for the city. Starting Monday, the city will begin garnishing their wages to collect the current $2.6 million these workers owe.
Across the country in California, a judge is making the California Highway Patrol return 60 POUNDS of pot to a motorist. I can see Ponch and Jon just shaking their heads...Actually, I think they should have sold it. The state budget problems are even worse going into next year than they were this year. Hard to imagine but true. Ah-nold is going after $8 billion in Federal funds, wants to cut everything, and is considering off-shore drilling.
In national political news, Mike Steele is in big trouble. Rachel has a great synopsis. We'll have more on it tomorrow, because what happens to him will have a large effect (and affect) on the 2010 elections.
OK, it's a new year. Time to get up, greet the day, and deal with the hangover. And it's a big one: the chickens have come home to roost. There's a lot on our collective plate. We know what the issues were as we left 2009, which will still be in play one year from today?
If you've been reading for a while, you know I have taken time for work-related business trips, family matters, conferences, staying at the hospital with sick friends, but you've never heard me say "vacation." My last vacation was in 2007: I attended the Florida Democratic Party Convention, but snuck out for 4 hours of riding water slides (and you thought I had NO hobbies besides politics....).
I'm going away for a few days, and plan to be back some time next week. At the latest, 2 January 2010. Back to blogging when I return.
This has been a very difficult year for a lot of reasons. The capstone for me was not the Senate and health care, but the coat drive. For about 15 years, I've run an annual coat drive. People give me money, and I match the first $1,000. On Black Friday, several girlfriends and I go out and buy coats, hats, gloves and drop them off to be distributed to adults and kids who would otherwise be cold. About half the people I know personally are out of work. Many of the rest have had hours and/or salaries cut. On a good year, I collect about $4,000, this year, I couldn't hit $200 in donations. I am hoping that next year, it will be a reality again.
Matt will be around holding down the fort, Oreo has already left for vacation. We all wish you and yours a very happy and healthy holiday season, filled with joy and hope and family and friends and cookies. Please know how much I appreciate all of you: the people who send emails, and comment and post. Even when we disagree, I appreciate that people defend their perspectives, add to the overall conversation, and sometimes tell me things I wouldn't have known otherwise.
Special note to Leah and BoredJunkie: yes, I know I owe you data, and I'll get it done when I get back. I cede neither point on ERISA nor OPM.
I'm running late this morning, so if you're looking for the morning post, it won't be up for another several hours from now.
In the interim, President Obama has ditched his planned schedule to meet with other world leaders in Copenhagen in hopes of salvaging some sort of climate deal.
At about 1 this morning, the Senate agreed to move the Defense Appropriations bill to a vote tomorrow morning. If you are unemployed and potentially facing the shut off of benefits on 1 January, this will be JUST under the wire, as many states were going to shutter programs on 19 December, effective 1 January. Since the Senate will likely vote yes, there should be no interruption to your UI payments, nor your COBRA underwrite.
The Senate should be in session this weekend, depending on the snow storm, to continue the health care debate. Meanwhile, about two dozen House members are with Nancy Pelosi in Copenhagen.
I've polled, and I know that only a small percentage of those of you who read DCW read the comments. The comments tend to be well written and interesting, but I understand it's a choice, and I'm not going to give anyone a hard time.
However, there was something in the comments that I wanted to share. It was posted on the story related to the Colorado Senate candidate who wants to eliminate the Department of Education, but it would be equally at home in the discussions on the Senate, voting, health care and host of other topics. So often, a picture truly is worth a thousand words. H/T BoredJunkie:
This is a post about what could have been, what is, and what shall be.
It's somewhat about politics. Actually, the end is...
It's long and in pieces which come together, so go get that cup of coffee and settle in.
Several days ago, I sent an e-mail to Matt and Oreo indicating that I wasn't really sure I could blog anymore. It was long and involved. Call it a crisis of confidence. And dammit, four short weeks before election 2010 kicks off in earnest.
And then, in the space of 48 hours, I received three emails. Two from people I don't know at all, one from someone I know a little. They had a profound impact on me: they honestly covered what could have been, what is, and what shall be.
"What could have been" came from Taylor in New York, who wrote about this article. It's a "going forward" history of what would have happened had Rehnquist not stolen the election for Baby Bush in 2000 (with some help from Ralph Nader). It's a fun read. In my coulda-shoulda dreams, (and unlike the article's chronology) 9/11 wouldn't have happened had Gore been in the White House, he would NEVER have signed the Patriot Act, and President Gore would have come off better than in the article. Still, it's a really fun read, even if Bill would likely be constitutionally barred from holding the office of Veep since it would put him in the line of succession, and I recommend the article.
The "what is" related to this article, and Michelle in Indiana asked "What would America look like without a middle class?" The article is written by Elizabeth Warren, and it's mostly a collection of data indicating the evisceration of the middle class over the last several decades. She asks, but does not answer, about imagining an America without a middle class. I've been thinking about it, and it's pretty dismal. I can see it in my mind's eye. There's a reason I'm not going to paint you the picture I can see crystalline.
The "what shall be" came from Erica in Arizona, who linked to a piece I'd written on, you guessed it, health care. Basically, she wanted to know if I could add some hope to the whole discussion. Erica from Arizona sent a phone number, and said something nice about Olivia, so I called her. And my conversation with her was a paradigm shift.
If you've ever lived in a city AND owned a car, you know what a joy parking can be.
In Boston, they used to say that there were double the number of registered automobiles compared to the number of legal spaces. Philadelphia is renowned for its Parking Authority (PPA). Not only is there a TV show, but we're losing tourism because of how the PPA operates.
New York is a case unto itself. Back when I was in junior high, my parents had a friend who was a news producer for one of the networks. He needed a car because he never knew when the call would come and he would have to go to a news scene. Often, his car was parked at JFK International because his work often took him out of town. In the course of one year, he received several dozen tickets for being parked on the same block as his TV studio. Problem was, he never parked there: when he was going to the office, he left his car in the garage and took the train. Some of the tickets were for days he could easily prove that he was nowhere near New York, and his car was at JFK.
Black Friday is generally a parking bonanza for the City of New York, since there are lots of people visiting, and they don't realize that Friday is a regular day, not a holiday. In 2007, New York City handed out $900,000 of parking tickets on Black Friday, as compared to the "normal" $270,000 on an average weekday. Think $70 MILLION dollars a year. I can't always get my head around billions, trillions and quadrillions, but I'm clear that $70 million is real money.
Because of a quirk of the calendar, Friday was a city-recognized holiday after all: Id al-Adha, a Muslim celebration. Alternate-side-of-the-street parking rules were suspended through Saturday, giving New Yorkers one more reason to offer thanks while depriving the city of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The intersection of American tradition, Islam’s lunar calendar and the street-cleaning schedule made for a peculiar holiday mash-up that pleased car owners and imams alike. “On Id day we share the blessings with all New Yorkers,” said Imam Shamsi Ali of the Islamic Cultural Center in Manhattan. “The blessing is that they have the opportunity to have free parking.”
Nice.
However:
The number of parking tickets issued has soared since Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg took office, the Times analysis showed, and they have become a symbol of what critics call City Hall’s callous attitude toward New Yorkers’ everyday concerns. Last week, the City Council passed a bill that would provide a five-minute grace period to drivers who were late to feed a meter or move their cars on street-cleaning days. Mr. Bloomberg vowed to veto the legislation, saying it would only lead to confusion.
I guess when you've got $100 million of your own money to spend on your reelection, you don't think seriously about the $65 it costs regular people to pay a parking ticket.
Hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving, filled with family, friends, beloved pets and lots of good eating! And I hope you were grateful for all you have.
Today is Black Friday, and it appears to me that someone, somewhere, has sucked the joy right out of it. Copies of the ads were available online weeks ago, many "deals" were not deals at all, and if they were, you could buy them online at one minute past midnight in your pjs. I was, however, glad to see that steps have been taken to avoid the trampling deaths of last year at the Wal-mart. We'll see how it goes: often Black Friday is the test of how good or bad the holiday retail season will be. In case you don't know, it's named "Black Friday" because historically it was the day retailers went from operating in the red to operating in the black. In an economy like ours, it matters this year. Since 70% of the economy is consumer-driven, a great Black Friday could mean a shot in the arm all around to start the Main Street recovery.
I have made one Black Friday purchase already (yes, in my pjs) and I'm telling you about it because it indirectly affects you. I bought something I've been considering for a couple months. It is something that is made exclusively in America, helps protect American jobs in media, distribution, retail, and logging. I re-upped my USA Today subscription. They had sent an email indicating that for Black Friday, they were cutting the cost in half. And it was just too sweet to pass up. So, you'll be seeing their information and terrific investigative reporting discussed here again.
I'll be off line until probably tomorrow - going to catch up on some relaxation, and yes, spend some time at the stores. This is a great day to buy toys to drop off at Toys for Tots, gloves and scarves to drop to the clothing drives, and drop a few bags of food to the local food bank. My mother instilled in me the law of "tzadakah" - which is an involved Jewish concept of charity: no matter how much or how little you have, others have less. Everyone who knows me over the age of 18 knows that in lieu of any holiday presents, they'll get a note saying something along the lines of "the money that would have gone to your present was donated in your name to X charity." She also taught me that when something great happens, you should celebrate by writing a check that hurts to charity.
Yesterday, I watched Olivia eat turkey. The dog that didn't have a chance of making it to her favourite day of the year, happily eating turkey. For me, there are no politics today, only big bags of food for people who didn't have as good a day yesterday as Olivia did.
Back tomorrow - I hope y'all have a fun day. And to echo something MisterEd wrote in the comments yesterday - big thanks to the police, fire, medical and Armed Forces people who don't ever get holidays because they are there, protecting and serving those of us lucky enough to get that time off.
We're all either cooking, eating, watching sports, shopping, arguing having nice conversations with relatives, sleeping late, napping through the afternoon.....or some combination thereof.
There is A LOT to be thankful for, and if you want to share what's on your list, please feel free to use the comments.
We hope you have a happy, healthy and safe holiday!
To get your day started right, after the jump is a Thanksgiving letter from a woman in her 80's to her family. It will make you laugh.
By the way, this is NOT a picture of Olivia, but she's sharing those dreams.....
I have seen a lot of CNN lately. If you read my stuff, you probably know that I don't know which channel on my TV is CNN, so there must be something else going on. And there is.
But I've seen CNN, in bits and pieces. possibly more in the past two weeks than I've seen in my life, and all that has stuck is this piece from yesterday. Some obviously Anglo guy, with an affected Spanish accent in a few places, mentioned that Hugo Chavez spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on shoes, clothes and toiletries and wants to ban golf from Venezuela. His affectation extended to calling Hugo Boss "Ugo" Boss, and then actually winking and intoning "get it?"
And that's it. That is all I've got in the realm of current politics. Being a CNN piece, I don't even know if it's true. Except I've bought from Hugo Boss, and so I'm pretty sure about the pronunciation. Willing to be wrong, but that's how they say it at the store.
My gay bit relates to finding out in a pretty horrible way HOW BAD IT IS when they want to keep you from someone you love who is sick.
My health care bit is that it should NEVER EVER be about the money. And that sadly, no matter how much money you have, it might not be enough.
You probably want to stop reading now. Unfortunately, I've put more after the jump. And it's all about health care.
While most of my weekend was the sort of thing you not only don't want to talk about, but you really want to forget, there was one real highlight.
Yesterday afternoon I went out to do my neighborhood lit drop for tomorrow's election. (And not alone.) If you've never done an election lit drop, the deal is that you have a little clear plastic bag filled with information on the candidates, plus information from the local committee, and maybe the county/state committee. Generally, there's also a copy of the ballot or a list of who the party candidates on the ballot.
A lot of times, you run out and do them in the dark of night and leave the information on the doors.
If, however, you're a block captain, you also knock the doors. You do this to say hi to people you know anyway, make sure people who might need a ride to the polls get one, and make sure that if anyone moved into the neighborhood they're registered.
I had the great pleasure yesterday of knocking doors with Doug Pike, candidate for CD-6. Yes, I know he's not on the ballot until next year, but it was a great opportunity for him to meet-and-greet the folks and show support for this year's row officer and judicial candidates.
I'm a supporter of Doug Pike for his stands on the issues, and because I believe he is truly the best choice to represent me (and everyone else in CD-6) in Congress. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to spend a different kind of time with him. He and I had spoken before about issues and demographics, but yesterday I got to see the man. You can tell a lot about a person by the little things: when you go to someone's house, are you offered something to drink? If your arms are filled with packages, does someone offer to help tote?
Yesterday, I saw in Doug not just a pol who holds the same political beliefs that I do, but a true human being I'd want as a friend if we met socially. And based on the questions that independent voters asked him, I think he's also got a real shot at being elected.
Everyone is talking about the fact that President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. There was one other award given out on the same day, and with all the excitement, you might have missed it. The Family Values Porn Fan of the Year 2009 award went to Newt Gingrich. You can read all about it here.
In other Obama-related news, the President has endorsed Bill Thompson. We've mentioned him before, but he might be under your radar. There is, however, a 99.9% chance (and that might be low) you know the name of his competitor: Mike Bloomberg. It is a difficult position for President Obama. Thompson is a Democrat: Obama is the head of the Democratic Party. Thompson is a black man running to be mayor of the largest city in America, which happens to be located in New York State, whose Governor is a black man and who Obama has asked to withdraw from his re-election rate. Couple this with the fact that Obama and Bloomberg see eye to eye on many things, they're friendly, and there is a very high probability that Mayor Mike will hold on to his seat.
Moving on: not that you'll be surprised, but the IIE is still homophobic, in addition to being racist, misogynistic, and basically against everything else rational, sane, decent people support. The House this week passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. this will expand the 1969 Hate Crimes Act to include crimes motivated by gender, sexual orientation, gender identification and disability. The right tried to kill the bill, saying it would lead to Nazism, necrophilia, pedophilia and beastiality
This is a good time to remind you that the March for Equality in Washington, DC is tomorrow. The Times points out that there is some difference of opinion on whether a national program, or state by state action is the better path. President obama will be speaking tonight at a Human Rights Campaign fund-raiser.
Finally, California is in even worse shape than people thought. Turns out they're already a billion short. This comes back to the validity of the economic models that people use. States work on the accrual basis, this California "booked" income based on the taxes that people owed. Well, that works well for economists and accountants. Not so much when you have to write actual checks on the money. And the money isn't coming. Fewer jobs, lower wages, homes reassessed downward, foreclosures, and decreases in business income, spending and flat out population are causing problems. Once again, the model is wrong.
I know I owe a post on the PA CD-12 special election, and
more info on John Murtha, but it's really snowing hard. A bunch of us have moved cars, moved snow, taken good care of the guys with the bobcats and checked on all the elderly in the neighborhood. (We don't trust them when we call, all they ever say is "we're fine" so we actually go over and check for heat, food, and to make sure no one who has had a heart attack previously is outside shoveling.) 
Happy Thanksgiving from the DCW team.
