Do We Need Conventions?

Okay. I can see one night, maybe two, but do we need 4 days of speeches? Gone are the days where a nominee is selected at the convention. The nominee is decided well in advance.

So, what's the purpose of a convention, which are nothing more than both political parties selling their souls for corporate donations.

FYI, Chris Matthews' Kid Is On The HBO Show, "The Newsroom"

If you watch the mock debate scene, Matthews' kid is Mitt Romney.

So, you know that he watches the show.

Name some great Moon songs, in honor of Neil Armstrong

Is The GOP's Anti-Reproductive Rights Campaign A Response to the Strides That Women

are making in our country?

Yes, women make less than men on average. However, there are more women in college today than men. There are more women in law school than men. Even the U.S. Olympic team had more women than men.

Much like anti-immigration and African American voter suppression, the GOP is using the power of government to turn back the clock on social progress.

The GOP sees curtailing reproductive rights as a means to subjugate women.

If I Were Royalty, I'd Run Around Naked All of the Time

What are they gonna do? Fire me? You don't fire a King.

Didn't Republicans Try To Cut The National Weather Service which Tracks Hurricanes?

Why yes! Yes, they did:

Um, Excuse me. I need to use the computer

What's the smallest number that's divisible by all numbers 1 thru 20 without leaving a remainder?

???

Let's List All The Groups That The GOP Has Angered

Women - GOP's use of goverment to deny reproductive choice and invasive medical procedures
African Americans - Photo IDs for voting and curtailing of early voting
GBLT- Against ending marriage discrimination
Seniors - Ryan Medicare plan
Students - Cuts to education; firing teachers
Labor - Stripping out collective bargaining rights
Middle class - Ryan's proposals to eliminate tax deductions in order to give the wealthy a bigger tax break
Military Service members - Want an additional war in Iran
Environmentalists - Want to eliminate the EPA
Latinos - Various "papers please" bills modeled after AZ
Muslims - Hysteria over Sharia law
Scientists - Promote Creationism as actual science
The Poor - Promote cuts to the social safety net
The Unemployed - want to cut UE benefits

Have I forgotten anyone?

Want to Create Jobs In A Hurry? Lower The Retirement Age to 60

And pay out a big bump in SS payments for two years. IOW, offer a financial incentive for people to retire early.

Doing this would instantly free up a lot of jobs across all sectors of our economy. Many Americans are forced into working longer than they want to largely because they cannot afford to retire, and this creates a drag on job turnover.

Secondly, let's be honest, there is ramapant age discrimination in the work place. Many people in their 50s and 60s are taking jobs beneath their pay and career status in order to survive, if they're lucky enough to get hired.

How would I pay for this? Return the defense budget to the Clinton level of $200 billion a year from the over $700 billion that it currently stands at. We're spending more money on defense than we did during the height the Cold War, and guess what, the Cold War is over.

In sum, given the global labor competition and advances in technology, the current 8% UE rate may just be the new normal. Why not pay people to leave the labor force in order to free up more jobs? And, giving people a financial incentive to leave the labor force may be the best over all stimulus for our economy.