Conlibe: Political Blog for TRUTH in Politics.
Liberal Opinion Blog. Boston, Massachusetts. Political Democrat, Independent. Debunk Republican Lies, MisinformationArchive for Ted Kennedy
The new “Ted Kennedy”…
My internet connection is up and running…
This computer guy came, he sat down at the computer, he opened the start menu, he hit run, he typed in a command, he did something…and problem was fixed.
I noticed he didn’t explain what was wrong – probably thought I wouldn’t get it – and I probably wouldn’t!
So now I can go back to blogging…about the next “Ted Kennedy” and the way I see it, the next influential senator from New England won’t be coming from the great state of Massachusetts.
The next Ted Kennedy is from these parts…
But the next Ted Kennedy is not a man…
The next Ted Kennedy is a Senator…
But the next Ted Kennedy is not a Democrat…
The next “Ted Kennedy” in my opinion is already making her mark.
She’s the Senior U.S. Senator from Maine, Olympia Snowe, and a moderate republican whose presence is growing in congress. The 62-year-old is now being billed as the woman with the most clout in Washington, D.C.
If Republicans decide to filibuster the Health Care Reform Bill, Democrats will need 60 votes to block them in the Senate. But so far, Democrats don’t have that number. They can, if Snowe sides with them!.
As the only Republican in Congress who might vote for President Obama’s Health Care Reform efforts, Snowe has become a powerful player in the negotiations. And Democrats are bending over backwards to accommodate Snowe.
For instance, she wanted an amendment that would require small employers to provide a plan with a deductible of no more than 2-thousand-dollars for individuals and 4-thousand for families…with conditions. She got it!
She wanted them to take a second look at eligibility requirements in certain cases. She got it!
She wanted some employees (whose share of premiums through their employer-sponsored coverage is more than 10 percent of their income) to qualify for the tax credit. She got it!
Don’t ask me what any of them do – or mean. I don’t even know if I’m phrasing them right – I just know she asked for change and got some change! ‘Cause she is in a position to demand…and get!
I wonder if I can ask her to get me the same kind of Health Care that Congress gets. I bet she would get that too!
If the Maine republican votes with the Democrats, Obama comes out on top. But he could go down in defeat if she sides with her party and votes no, as republicans plan to do.
Google Snowe on the internet and you find headlines like these:
“Snowe Stands in Eye of Health Care Storm. GOP Senator Finds Herself in Influential Position in Reform Debate.”
Here’s what Time Magazine had to say about Snowe in an article (Sept. 25, 2009) titled: Seducing Olympia Snowe: The Key to Health Reform
Quiz time: Which of the following provisions has been tucked into the most closely watched health-care bill on Capitol Hill thanks to Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine? Is it a) an annual checkup for every Medicare beneficiary, b) a special health-insurance marketplace in every state that would cater to the needs of small businesses or c) new tax credits to help modest-size firms buy coverage for their workers?
The answer is all of the above. As the only Republican on the Finance Committee still in talks with Democrats on a final bill, Snowe now finds herself with extraordinary leverage as crunch time hits for health reform.
President Obama is trying very hard to win Snowe over and while she hasn’t said publicly yet (far as I know) how she will vote, she seems to like the president and doesn’t see him as a big government liberal who is pushing to expand government. That’s how Snowe’s fellow republicans tend to paint president Obama.
Snowe was born in 1947, in Augusta, Maine. Her father was Greek, her mother from Sparta. After the death of her parents, she was raised by her aunt and uncle.
She attended a Greek Orthodox school in Garrison, New York, and earned a degree in political science from the University of Maine.
Senator Snowe is married to former Maine Governor, John R. McKernan Jr.
Say hello to my new Ted Kennedy…
Apt Final Resting Place for Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy’s body will be leaving his beloved Massachusetts, apparently forever, on Saturday, (Aug 29, 2009.
The senior senator, who represented his state in the U.S. Senate for 43-years, will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, that same afternoon.
Massachusetts is saddened greatly to see you go, Senator Kennedy. Part of you will forever remain here, with us.
I wonder if Joe and Ethel Kennedy thought, back when they were raising a family in the early 1900’s, that three of their sons – John Fitzgerald Kennedy, JFK (1963); Robert “Bobby” Kennedy, (1968) and now, Ted Kennedy, (2009) – would be buried alongside each other at one of the most famous cemeteries in the world.
 |
Only two presidents are buried at Arlington Cemetery: William Howard Taft (1930) and the senator’s brother, JFK. Ted Kennedy will also be in the presence of four Chief Justices of the United States: William Howard Taft, Earl Warren, Warren Burger and William Rehnquist.
Arlington National Cemetery (Arlington, Virginia), is a military cemetery and a visit there is a step back in time. The cemetery was established during The Civil War, and is located near the Pentagon, directly across the Potomac River from the nation’s capital. The land once belonged to the estate of the family of Robert Lee’s wife.
More than four million people visit the cemetery each year and about 100 graveside services are conducted there each week.
Arlington National Cemetery is open to the public everyday at 8:00 AM.
It closes at 7PM from April 1 to September 30…and for the rest of the year it closes at 5:00PM.
Senator Kennedy’s journey to Arlington begins on Saturday, August 28, 2009.
According to the Kennedy family, the Senator’s funeral mass will take place at a private church service at 9:00AM, Saturday morning.
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will be present. Also expected are: President Clinton, President George W. Bush and President Jimmy Carter. President George H.W Bush, Sr., won’t be attending.
But many of the Senators colleagues are expected to be there, and I’m now hearing that world-famous Spanish tenor Placido Domingo and Chinese cellist Yo-Yo Ma could be attending!
According to the Kennedy family, after the service, the senator’s body will be taken to Andrew’s Air Force Base where his motorcade will pass by the Capitol for a stop at the Senate steps for a brief prayer so that Senate staff and members of the broader Senate community with whom the Senator worked can bid a final farewell.
From Andrews Air Force base, Senator Kennedy’s motorcade will travel along the east plaza of the US Capitol building and go past the Senate Chamber steps. The motorcade will then proceed to Arlington National Cemetery.
5:30 p.m. A burial service for Senator Kennedy will be held at Arlington National Cemetery. The burial service is closed to the public.
The family says Senator Kennedy spent a lot of time at Arlington Cemetery, visiting the graves of his beloved brothers and paying tribute to the fallen men and women of Massachusetts who gave their lives for our country.
Now it’s our turn to go and visit him…who gave so much of his life to this country.
 |
Conlibe: Political Blog for TRUTH in Politics. 