Representative Patrick J. Kennedy, center, leaving court in June with
Representative Jim Ramstad after pleading guilty to impaired driving.
By MARK LEIBOVICH
Published: September 19, 2006
...The two men (click here) share a keen sense of the twin burdens that being an
addict and congressman impose, Mr. Kennedy says. “To some degree, all
politicians lead a double life, a public one and a private one,” he
said. Mr. Ramstad has emphasized the importance of integrating what he
calls “the political game face” with “the real person inside.”
Being
a Kennedy carries its own weight, Mr. Kennedy says, given the legacy of
drug and alcohol abuse in his family. His mother, Joan Kennedy, has
endured a long battle with alcoholism, and his father was involved in a
string of alcohol-related episodes earlier in his career. (Senator
Kennedy says he will drink a glass of wine at home at night or in social
settings. He describes himself as being “well” over the last 15 years, a
recovery he attributes to his current wife, Victoria.)
In a phone interview, Senator Kennedy says he shares a meal with Patrick once a week. His son is doing well, he says, thanks in large part to “the incredible generosity of spirit” of Jim Ramstad...
Neither of these men are in Congress anymore. This phenomena in Washington, DC crosses all parties and faiths, Mr. Rmastad is an Evangelical. I strongly suggest Speaker Boner sober his party and bring the federal budget for a vote without the Hastert Rule as soon as possible.
As a matter of fact, in the light of the alcoholism that exhibited on the eve of a government shutdown I INSIST Congress dissolve their Hastert Rule completely.
Comment from The Sydney Morning Herald.
Paul McGeough
October 2, 2013 - 5:11PM
...For all their bluster, (click here) it seemed the Republicans did not have the stomach for a total shutdown – on Tuesday, they suggested that maybe the deal could be softened by adding the Department of Veterans Affairs, national parks and the entire District of Columbia to a significant list of "essentials" that have been excluded from the shutdown madness.
For now, the tipping is that the Republicans can't win. At least that's how a slew of commentators are reading opinion polls and it's what their last two presidential contenders, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Arizona senator John McCain, are telling them.
But political wind is a fickle beast. Measured by opinion polls, Obama and congressional Democrats are stronger than the Republicans, but if the shutdown continues to the point of inflicting serious pain to voters and/or the economy, both sides might suffer – especially if this wrangle runs into the next round of argy-bargy, just weeks away, over limits to federal borrowing.
The dilemma for the Republicans is that they allowed hatred to pass for good political sense, by making the continued operation of the government dependent on taking an axe to Obamacare, a tactic that worries the public, notwithstanding their antipathy for the health scheme....
From the New Zealand Herald Business Pages:
10:41 PM Wednesday Oct 2, 2013
...Some investors fear the budget standoff (click here) could spill over into a dispute about raising the nation's borrowing limit. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said last week that the government would run out of borrowing authority by roughly Oct. 17.
The last time the borrowing limit, or debt ceiling, issue came up in August 2011, it led to a downgrade of the United States' credit rating by Standard & Poor's.
"Everyone is very cautious about how to react to the U.S. shutdown," said Andrew Sullivan at Kim Eng Securities in Hong Kong. "There's a lot for people to worry about. In such cases, people prefer to hold their cash on the sidelines."
Japan's Nikkei 225 index plummeted 2.2 percent to close at 14,170.49 after the government Tuesday announced it would go ahead with a sales tax increase in April. The tax, intended to offset the country's soaring public debt, will rise from 5 percent to 8 percent.
Markets in mainland China were closed for public holidays, so couldn't react to a survey showing that manufacturing in the world's No. 2 economy barely expanded in September. Tuesday's report by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing showed manufacturing expanded for the third month in a row.
But the group's purchasing managers' index rose by only a fraction to 51.1 last month from 51.0 in August, less than economists expected.
Benchmark oil for November delivery was down 52 cents to $101.52 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 29 cents to close at $102.04 on Tuesday.
In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3529 from $1.3518 late Tuesday. The dollar fell to 97.42 yen from 98.02 yen.
So the drunkards in the Congress are most worried about refusing women birth control through their health insurance coverage. Sounds right. It is time to remove the Hastert rule and allow those that are still sober to vote to run the federal government. Birth control?
In a phone interview, Senator Kennedy says he shares a meal with Patrick once a week. His son is doing well, he says, thanks in large part to “the incredible generosity of spirit” of Jim Ramstad...
Neither of these men are in Congress anymore. This phenomena in Washington, DC crosses all parties and faiths, Mr. Rmastad is an Evangelical. I strongly suggest Speaker Boner sober his party and bring the federal budget for a vote without the Hastert Rule as soon as possible.
As a matter of fact, in the light of the alcoholism that exhibited on the eve of a government shutdown I INSIST Congress dissolve their Hastert Rule completely.
Comment from The Sydney Morning Herald.
Paul McGeough
October 2, 2013 - 5:11PM
...For all their bluster, (click here) it seemed the Republicans did not have the stomach for a total shutdown – on Tuesday, they suggested that maybe the deal could be softened by adding the Department of Veterans Affairs, national parks and the entire District of Columbia to a significant list of "essentials" that have been excluded from the shutdown madness.
For now, the tipping is that the Republicans can't win. At least that's how a slew of commentators are reading opinion polls and it's what their last two presidential contenders, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Arizona senator John McCain, are telling them.
But political wind is a fickle beast. Measured by opinion polls, Obama and congressional Democrats are stronger than the Republicans, but if the shutdown continues to the point of inflicting serious pain to voters and/or the economy, both sides might suffer – especially if this wrangle runs into the next round of argy-bargy, just weeks away, over limits to federal borrowing.
The dilemma for the Republicans is that they allowed hatred to pass for good political sense, by making the continued operation of the government dependent on taking an axe to Obamacare, a tactic that worries the public, notwithstanding their antipathy for the health scheme....
From the New Zealand Herald Business Pages:
10:41 PM Wednesday Oct 2, 2013
...Some investors fear the budget standoff (click here) could spill over into a dispute about raising the nation's borrowing limit. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said last week that the government would run out of borrowing authority by roughly Oct. 17.
The last time the borrowing limit, or debt ceiling, issue came up in August 2011, it led to a downgrade of the United States' credit rating by Standard & Poor's.
"Everyone is very cautious about how to react to the U.S. shutdown," said Andrew Sullivan at Kim Eng Securities in Hong Kong. "There's a lot for people to worry about. In such cases, people prefer to hold their cash on the sidelines."
Japan's Nikkei 225 index plummeted 2.2 percent to close at 14,170.49 after the government Tuesday announced it would go ahead with a sales tax increase in April. The tax, intended to offset the country's soaring public debt, will rise from 5 percent to 8 percent.
Markets in mainland China were closed for public holidays, so couldn't react to a survey showing that manufacturing in the world's No. 2 economy barely expanded in September. Tuesday's report by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing showed manufacturing expanded for the third month in a row.
But the group's purchasing managers' index rose by only a fraction to 51.1 last month from 51.0 in August, less than economists expected.
Benchmark oil for November delivery was down 52 cents to $101.52 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 29 cents to close at $102.04 on Tuesday.
In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3529 from $1.3518 late Tuesday. The dollar fell to 97.42 yen from 98.02 yen.
So the drunkards in the Congress are most worried about refusing women birth control through their health insurance coverage. Sounds right. It is time to remove the Hastert rule and allow those that are still sober to vote to run the federal government. Birth control?
