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Given the roll call vote (number 165) for March 21, 2010 with a time stamp of 10:49PM in the US House of Representatives the fat lady may not have sung yet on the outcome of healthcare legislation but the situation looks rather dismal.

What it looks like from here is Obama will sign his Obamacare and the Senate has an opportunity to make fixes or changes. It also looks like Mr Stupak may have been duped. Accepting less than a million dollars in airport funding for his vote in exchange for an executive order from President Obama to protect Stupak’s claimed pro-life interests may be another healthcare scam.

While preparing to publish this post an unproductive search was conducted to determine who the other Congressman were in Mr Stupak’s little alliance. It is almost as if the others have effectively cloaked their names from the media. About all that was found so far was six more names to go with Mr Stupak at Wikipedia. A check of the roll call indicates they all did not vote one way.

But they are not the only ones who may deserve to be politically impaled for this travesty. You can start with the Republicans. Had they not squandered their last Congressional majority with a major fall from grace on conservative principles we wouldn’t be having these discussions.

Add to that the equally disgusting performance of the liberal agenda gone wild and a recurring theme in American politics emerges once again. Politicians are the largest impediment in politics and governing. They are the root of all evil in public affairs. They are what allows lobbyists to exist. For without the pursuit of power, election and re-election by politicians, lobbyists would have no reason to exist.

It’s the ageless battle between greed and corruption versus principle and virtue. So now the next chapter begins. What to do after the mindless tragedy that took place in Congress this past Sunday?

37 states will pursue opting out of Obamacare. Various entities will pursue legal action against Obamacare. And many politicians may have just signed their resignation papers with a vote for Obamacare. And some argue those who voted against it will experience the same fate.

Let the purging begin.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

So whatever happened to the all for one and one for all mentality of organizations that endorsed candidates? Specifically, why are labor unions split on which Democratic party candidate to support. And why would blue collar back Clinton and white collar back Obama in New Hampshire but two unions split between tweedle dee and tweedle dum in Nevada? And if casino execs back Clinton in Nevada why is the teachers’ union bothered by the culinary union’s caucus arrangements?

In Vegas, Politics Comes to The Strip
Caucus Sites in Casinos Become A Flash Point
By Paul Kane and Alec MacGillis, WaPo
January 13, 2008

Under rules set by the Nevada Democratic Party, only casinos that have been organized by the most powerful labor group in Las Vegas, the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, were selected as caucus sites.

In New Hampshire, Clinton fared best among working-class and middle-class voters, while Obama did better with higher-income voters and in college towns — a demographic that Clinton at one point mocked as people who “don’t need a president.”

“Not only am I among friends, I am also among the best of the labor movement in this country,” Obama, a senator from Illinois, said in a speech Friday night at the union’s hall on the north end of town.

A union official suggested that Clinton’s backers indicate she is supported by the Dems party elite. Since that same power and influence anointed Kerry in 04 and saw Edwards submit to the notion, how does he explain Kerry’s endorsement of Obama this year? Rather than have Kennedy openly represent the party will it would appear that Kerry was the party spokesperson this time. As a side note it is interesting that Shelby Steele was on Moyer’s program on PBS this week expressing his opinion that Obama cannot win. And now two unions are fighting over which left candidate to support. Could it be that just like the failed New Direction of the Democratic party majority in Congress that the DNC and everyone else involved in party politics cannot pick a candidate?

In the GOP it is a little less surprising that a front runner has not been decided yet. Romney has the most delegates and a rarely mentioned win in Wyoming. Huckabee won Iowa. McCain won New Hampshire. And it is yet to be seen if Romney can win more contests as well as whether the uncommon strategies of Thompson and Giuliani will produce their desired results. With at least five candidates in the GOP with a chance to win compared to the two or three on the Dems side you might think the Dems should have an easier decision to make. But then the GOP is not contending with a couple of firsts. The first black candidate and the first woman candidate for President may prolong the decision process. Or is it just typical of Dems to have no new direction or be able to produce a unified front?

So if you are on the left side of things, simplify your life and pick a liberal in the GOP. For the uninformed that would be Giuliani, Huckabee or McCain. Or is the contest in the general headed for a showdown between Romney and Clinton as some have suggested?

Behind Nevada casino walls is a political fight

Reuters -

It was especially interesting that Obama referred to one group as ‘the best part of the labor movement’ and Clinton described another group as one that ‘does not need a President.’ Are these not the type of statements that candidates regret at some point? It certainly supports the notion that when these two candidates speak of uniting America it is the rhetoric they claim to denounce or criticize each other for using.

Airbus Delivers First A380 to Singapore Airlines
By Kate Woodsome
Hong Kong
22 October 2007

Airbus has delivered its new A380 super jumbo jet to its first customer - Singapore Airlines. The delivery is a huge relief to the European plane-maker after a troubled start to the industrial project. Kate Woodsome at VOA’s Asia News Center in Hong Kong has more on this and other business stories from Asia.

In a handover ceremony in Toulouse, France last week, Airbus presented Singapore Airlines with the world’s largest plane - 18 months later than planned.

Airbus stalled delivery of the A380 after wiring problems spiraled into a financial crisis that toppled the management and led to 10,000 job cuts.

Airbus chief executive officer Thomas Enders thanked Singapore Airlines for its patience.

“For more than a decade, we have appreciated your great cooperation, your support, your confidence in the A380 program and today is our chance to thank you for challenging us and for sharing your ambitious dream, creating the world’s largest, most efficient, most comfortable commercial aircraft,”

said Enders.

The first commercial flight from Singapore to Sydney will take off October 25. Full service begins October 28.

Singapore Airlines’ Silkair says it has reduced its services to Burma because of a drop in tourism after last month’s bloody military crackdown on pro-democracy protests. Silkair has cut its weekly flights from 14 to 12. It says it will run just 10 flights a week starting next month.

In Japan, Nomura Holdings Incorporated, the country’s largest securities firm, says it will leave the U.S. market for residential mortgage-backed securities due to losses suffered in the sub-prime mortgage crisis. It plans to cut more than 400 jobs, 30 percent of its U.S. workforce.

French food giant Groupe Danone SA says it is selling its entire 20 percent stake in Shanghai-based Bright Dairy and Food for $127 million. Danone plans to sell its 104 million shares to Shanghai Milk Group and to S.I. Food Products Holdings Limited. No reason was given.

Danone also has joint ventures with China’s biggest milk producer, China Mengniu Dairy Company, and a troubled partnership with Chinese beverage maker Wahaha Group.

A new study by the U.S. investment bank Merrill Lynch and the professional services group Capgemini shows the number of U.S. dollar millionaires in the Asia-Pacific region has grown by 8.6 percent to 2.6 million people this year.

More than 70 percent of them live in China and Japan. The number of millionaires rose 21 percent in Singapore, more than 20 percent in India and 16 percent in Indonesia.

In Macau, casino gambling revenue has surged in the third quarter to $2.5 billion. That brings total gambling revenue this year to $7 billion.

Macau’s Gaming and Inspection and Coordination Bureau says that is 47 percent higher than earnings from the same period last year, and bigger than gambling revenues for all of 2006.

There was no reason to be impressed by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) last February when he blogged about privacy issues and all he would like to do to for us. The big problem with Frank’s so-called support for privacy is he saw no need for companies having security breaches to disclose that information. That would be one reason to not be fond of this Congressman from the land of same sex marriage and where employers who hire illegal aliens get even more military contracts from the government.

This time Barney Frank’s introduced legislation to legalize internet gambling which was outlawed last October by other legislation. The question would be who is contributing to Barney Frank’s campaign funds since his first term in 1980-81? The Congressman thinks there will be boatloads of revenue for the government if internet gambling is legalized. One of the obvious flaws in the bill is anyone thinking their will be a high degree of success in verifying each gambler is 18 or older and in a jurisdiction where gambling is allowed. Good luck with that on the internet, Congressman. And good luck with not adding to the gambling problems. Maybe he meant the boatloads of revenue would be flowing into campaign coffers when he said government.

A list of winners and losers from this legislation was offered by someone at a casino site and is included below. The problem with the list is the winners and losers are from the gambling industry perspective. I suppose gamblers anonymous could be a winner if you consider an increase in activity for them a win. Maybe this is more of what the Dems proposed last year with their New Direction for America. And let’s not forget about the possibility that the biggest winner with this legislation would be those wishing to launder money, etc. And nothing good can come from that.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Frank Introduces Repeal of Gambling Ban

April 27th, 2007
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has introduced a bill to repeal the Internet gambling ban Bush signed in October.

The Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act, introduced Thursday in the House, would create a federal regulatory network to oversee Internet gambling and would require a licensing fee from gambling sites, giving the federal government an opportunity to generate revenue.

Internet Casino Gambling is Not Illegal in the United States

Casino Gambling Web, FL - Apr 30, 2007
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that was passed in October of last year, that the Internet gambling community is fighting to repeal, …

Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcment Act: Winners and losers

By Aaron Todd
2 May 2007
Rep. Barney Frank’s (D-Mass.) proposal to regulate Internet gambling in the U.S. has received a mixed reviews from the online gambling industry.

Frank’s plan calls for regulated companies to ensure gamblers are at least 18 years of age and in a jurisdiction that allows betting. Licensees would also need to demonstrate that they could combat fraud, money laundering and compulsive gambling, and ensure that all taxes and fees would be paid.

Family Research Council on Internet Gambling

ScienceBlogs - 11 hours ago
Those entities, he says, believe that much of the money from Internet gambling “is going into money laundering and covering up drug smuggling and even …

Bears Fan Loses Bet and Must Change Name

Bears Fan Loses Bet and Must Change His Name to Peyton Manning

Casino Executive Contributes $1 Million to Gingrich Group
Newt Gingrich, a former House speaker and a possible presidential contender, jump-started his new political group with a check for $1 million from a source many in his conservative base would shun — the gambling industry.

Oh sure, betting all over the place from office pools to offshore and online. Many a tribal press release has attributed economic viability due to gaming. But one gambling business contributes a mil and headlines pop up. Like all the other lobbyists, PAC’s, 527’s and other corporate sponsorships are any different. Buying politics is buying politics short and simple. If it looks like a rat and smells like a rat, it’s a rat, or rosey rat or something.

C. Harris
MoreWhat.com