Just who does Jon Stewart think he is?

Yes, Elena and I love Jon Stewart.  It beats a whole lot of other people we could love.  Sunday’s Washington Post ran an article entitled Just who does Jon Stewart think he is?  in anticipation of this Saturday’s event on the National Mall called Rally to Restore Sanity.  Stewart arrives Monday for preparation.  Very little is known about the event which begins at noon.  No special guests have been announced nor have any artists.  The rally will be broadcast live on Comedy Central. 

In some ways, Stewart returns to his roots.  He is a William and Mary graduate, class of 1984.  According to the Washington Post article:

Stewart, 47, has never claimed to be anything more than a guy trying to get laughs on “a fake news program on basic cable,” as he puts it. While that surely understates his case, it comports with his background as a stand-up comic and entertainer.

and

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Jon Stewart on the Primaries: Beyond the Palin

Some things speak for themselves.  Jon Stewart examines the new winners, O’Donnell and Paladino.

He then goes on with the team to see how the Democrat will blow any chances they have of taking advantage of the situation.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
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Squirrel!!!!! Islamophobiapalooza

See the latest squirrel.  Jon Stewart reflects on the mosque near ground zero, Imam Rauf, and Preacher Jones.

Hear Imam Rauf’s words. Evaluate for yourself before the special ears of Fox News translate for you.

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Is Imam Rauf being maligned by the conservative press? Was he threatening or was he interpretting what he thinks will happen?

“9500 Liberty” to Air on MTV

“9500 LIBERTY” TO PREMIERE ON MTV NETWORKS, PRESS SCREENING TONIGHT
Award-winning film on SB 1070 precursor will reach 100 million homes starting Sept. 26

view the   9500 Liberty trailer

Arizona   premiere poster for 9500 Liberty

(NY, New York) Sept. 7th, 2010 – MTV Networks will announce upcoming air dates for 9500 LIBERTY at a high-profile screening/panel discussion in New York this evening.  The critically acclaimed documentary chronicles the social, political, and economic impact of The Immigration Resolution, a law closely resembling Arizona’s SB 1070 that was briefly implemented in a Virginia county in 2008.
9500 LIBERTY
screening, panel discussion, cocktail reception
NY Times Building
620 8th Avenue (Entrance on 41 street), Time Square}
5:30 to 8:00 pm
  • John Quinones, ABC Primetime Anchor
  • Annabel Park, 9500 Liberty co-director and Coffee Party founder
  • Corey Stewart, Prince William County BOCS Chairman
  • Chuck Wexler, E.D. of the Police Executives Research Forum
  • Maria Kumar, Voto Latino Co-founder 
  • Paul Rodriguez, Comedian
  • moderated by New York Times reporter Fernanda Santos

9500 LIBERTY is directed by Annabel Park and Eric Byler, founders of the Coffee Party, which holds its first national convention in Louisville, KY Sept. 24-26, the same weekend as the film’s cable premiere.

Park will speak on tonight’s panel along side Tea Party favorite Corey Stewart, a leading figure in 9500 LIBERTY.  This will provide an opportunity for the two to reconcile conflicting accounts of events portrayed in the film.  For instance, Stewart has publicly denied the vote on April 29, 2008 that removed the most controversial aspect of the law (a key scene in the film), and made claims about immigration and crime that contradict statistics cited in the film. 

 As Chairman of the Prince William County Board of County Supervisors, Stewart used “The Immigration Resolution” as the center of his reelection campaign in 2007.  Implemented on March 6, 2008, Stewart’s law required police officers to question people they had “probable cause” to suspect may be in the country illegally.  With Arizona’s version pending in federal court and other jurisdictions around the country considering similar measures, Prince William County remains the only jurisdiction in the United States to implement such a mandate.  Stewart is now lobbying to revive the law, this time throughout Virginia.

The cable debut of 9500 LIBERTY will be on Sunday, September 26th at 8pm (ET/PT) on MTV2, mtvU (MTV’s 24-hour college network), and Tr3s: MTV, Música y Más (formerly MTV Tr3s) as part of Hispanic Heritage Month. 

“The decisions our elected representatives make on immigration reform now will impact our audience for generations,” said Stephen Friedman, EVP & GM of MTV Networks. “As the national debate rages, MTV is committed to engaging America’s youth as informed and active participants – and sharing this powerful film is a great way to start that process.”

“To compete in the 21st century, America needs a new generation of leaders who have grown up thriving in the richness of diversity,” Park said. “People under 30 know intuitively where we need to go as a nation.  We need to hear from them more often.”

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The Bush/Obama Conundrum: Blame Obama!

 

Jon Stewart examines what is known about Elena Kagan. He then moves on to look at the conundrum that Republicans have found themselves creating. It seems that what Bush did while in office now belongs to Obama which takes them back to the point of having to admit there was some bad policy. Like all conundrums, it is hard to spit out, so you will just have to let Jon Stewart say it best.

We are moving from let’s blame Bush to let’s blame Obama.  Seamlessly. 

 

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Corey Stewart, Tell the Truth!

 

Once again, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Corey Stewart prevaricated and obfuscated.

A few examples:

1. He didn’t tell Alisyn how many times the Resolution changed from July 7, 2007 until May 1, 2008.

2. He led the viewers to believe that the police could ask for documents based on probable cause. Does Corey still not know that probably cause no longer exists in our Resolution?

3. He stated that violent crimes are down 38%. Not according to PWC crime statistics and he knows this.

4. He was hung (sic) in effigy? I must have missed that one.

5. He stated that 80% of the people of Prince William County support the law and that the UVA survey stated so. I would like to see that little known fact in writing. No such question existed on that survey.

6. He assumed that fewer babies were born to illegal immigrant mothers and stated that as a fact when he had no verifiable proof. Immigration status is not collected at either hospital in the county and therefore he can only assume.

7. We have fewer ESOL classes now? I don’t think so. The nuumber of students enrolled in ESOL dropped slightly at the height of the foreclosure crisis, but returned to an even greater number by FY2008-2009. 

8. He failed to explain the evolution of what happened in PWC. He failed to explain that the Resolution that was passed on July 7, 2007 was not what passed around May 1, 2008. He led Alisyn to believe that whatever we did here fixed all immigration problems. That is simply not the case. He did not say that the status of all those arrested would be checked and he did not mention the 287(g) program. He failed to mention one of the worst housing crashes in the United States happened in PWC. He failed to mention he used  trumped up issues to get himself re-elected. He failed to mention what he did to the Chief of Police. He failed to mention what he did to his supervisor colleagues.

How can he live with himself puffing up like that?  He  let everyone who was listening to Fox News at that hour believe he held the silver bullet.

I felt very ashamed of my county and my state as I listed to something that simply was not the truth. Corey told how he wanted things to be, not how they really were. He misled the people of Arizona.

Liar, Liar, Pants on fire!

Police Department Illegal Immigration Policies

Jon Stewart: Law and Border in Arizona

Jon Stewart tries to educate himself on just what is going on in Arizona. He postulates that Arizona is the meth lab of democracy. Social commentary gets into Jon’s space.

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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED…..

‘NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED’ is the crux of any resolution.  In this case, there are 4 key directives.   They  tell us what is going to be done.  All the ‘whereases’ are justifications.

The day before yesterday the  Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) released its report which claries the fiscal impact , if any, of the expansion of Medicaid.  Click here to see the entire report.

Poverty Guidelines

10 Components of the Healthcare Bill

In talking this out, why do we need a resolution to do any of this?  Just do it over time and report back.  Can’t the BOCS just direct Ms. Peacor to make a statement after the dust has settled and the ink has dried on the Legislation?   isn’t that what is supposed to happen anyway?

Why all the fanfare?  Why the proclamations from the court house steps and from the Tea Party Rally?  Creating an Opt Out Resolution which doesn’t even opt out  seems like bad business as usual.  What is the price tag for all this investigation?  What is the price tag for pulling people off of their regular jobs to do all this busy work?

The red print is from Moonhowlings.

The Directives from the ‘Resolution:’

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Prince William Board of County Supervisors requests that the Department of Social Services, assisted by County staff:

1.     Estimate the additional population eligible for Medicaid in Prince William County as of January 1, 2014 according to the provisions of the PPAC and the regulations which will probably be promulgated by the federal government to implement the PPAC; and

It will be difficult to estimate the county demographics for Jan. 1, 2014.  The best we will be able to do is estimation. Estimations may be extrapolated from other existing data.  However, the estimations  are not exact.  Furthermore there are benefits that cannot easily be quantified:

According to News and Messenger:

The 2008 American Community Survey reported that [the county’s] poverty rate was 5.2 percent in 2008, less than half the statewide rate of 10.2 percent and about one third the national rate of 13.2 percent,” according to the quarterly report.

The county’s median household income in 2008, according to ACS figures, was $88,724, leading to its rank of 16th in terms of wealth among the largest counties in the United States. Per capita income in the county for 2008, meanwhile, came in at $36,049, according to the quarterly report.

2.      Estimate the additional financial burden to the County taxpayers for additional administration of benefits for the newly expanded, less-sensitive population; and

What is a less-sensitive population?  A family of 4 making $29,000 is hardly rolling in the lap of luxury.  What is involved in administering Medicaid?  Processing an application, verifying eligibility, enrolling the person/family into the Medicaid program according to the guidelines is pretty much it.  Is there a hidden process we don’t know about?

  • The additional cost to the states represents only a 1.25 percent increase in what states would have spent on Medicaid from 2014 to 2019 in the absence of health reform.
  • The federal government will assume 96 percent of the costs of the Medicaid expansion over the next ten years, according to an analysis of CBO estimates.
  • And having more people covered as a result of the Medicaid expansion and other provisions in the health reform law will reduce state and local governments’ current spending on other services for the uninsured, such as mental health services.

3.  . Work with private health care providers to estimate the magnitude of the reduction of

Working with private health care providers?  Which party will these providers belong to?  How will they be selected?  This information will be anecdotal at best.  Didn’t Linda Chavez warn us about using anecdotal  documentation rather than scientific data?

Why should we expect there to be a reduction of available health care options for the Medicaid population?

Why isn’t the BOCS attempting to bring more medical services to the county?  Aren’t these businesses we are trying to attract?

4. Advise the Commonwealth and the federal government that unless additional resources are found at the federal and state levels of government to fund the administration of the expansion of Medicaid, that Prince William County will be forced to raise taxes on County residents or slash strategic services in order to fund eligibility workers to administer the massive expansion in the eligible population which will become effective on January 1, 2014 enrollment of newly covered beneficiaries.

Gobbledeegoop?  What did that paragraph just direct?  Talk about obsfucation.  Geez.

When will we advise the Commonwealth and the federal government?  According to the  CBPP study:

Contrary to claims made by health reform critics, the Medicaid expansion does not pose substantial financial burdens on states. The additional state spending that will result from the expansion is only 1.25 percent of what states would have spent in the absence of health reform, but it will cover 16 million more people, which will help reduce states’ costs for other programs and bring numerous other benefits to the states. The federal government will pick up most of the costs of the Medicaid expansion, overall making it a good deal for the states.

And…..(and let’s put that Peacor woman to work)

AND, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Prince William BOCS directs the County Executive to:

  1. Estimate the increased cost burden the PPAC will have on the County’s provision of health insurance to its employees; and
  1. Provide comment to the Federal government as regulations and procedures are written which implement the Health Reform legislation in order to ensure that the impacts on local governments both from the significant expansion of Medicaid and from the implementation of other sections of the legislation are fully articulated.

Corey’s “Opt Out” Resolution

corey flier resize

Corey has issued a call to arms to his Tea Party base, or who he perceives to be his Tea Party base. Others have called it a call for anarchy.

Unfortunately, the Whereas remarks are mostly speculation.  The law does not take effect until Jan 1, 2014.  The rush to urgency is simply not there, regardless of how much Corey tries to make this a case of imminent impending doom.

We will post the actual meat of the resolution, items 1-4, individually in the next post.  Even the most casual observer will note that Corey’s ‘Opt Out Resolution ‘ opts out of nothing and will only cost the county money it doesn’t have.

The other supervisors are wise to his tricks now.  They realize that he is salivating to be  elected Lt. governor  in 2013 or elected to  some other higher office at either state or national level.  They also realize that he wants to climb up this ladder of success on their backs, not on what is good for the county.  They know that pulling  the Department of Social Services to do investigative work is bad business.   This agency  has recently regrouped and reorganized after the tragic death of Lexie Glover.  They have a new director.  To pull people  off of their routine work load to go do investigative work is wrong and disruptive.   When county people are pulled to work on other things, then the regular work load just doesn’t get done.

The power of 4 is going to be the power of a little bit more than 4, this time.

Below is a copy of the proposed “Opt Out” Resolution to be presented on May 4, 2010.

MOTION:                                                                        May 4, 2010

Regular Meeting

SECOND:                                                                        Res. No. 10-

RE:                 REALLOCATION OF COUNTY RESOURCES TO COMPLY WITH PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT  

ACTION: APPROVED

WHEREAS, Medicaid is an entitlement program authorized under Title XIX of the Social Security Act, financed by the state and federal governments and administered by the States. The Virginia Medicaid program is administered by the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS); and

WHEREAS, the provision of eligibility workers to enroll beneficiaries and administer benefits has been imposed on Prince William County government with insufficient overhead funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia to cover all costs of administration; Prince William County citizens fund 53% of the administrative costs of administration through their local taxes; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth of Virginia currently covers eligible children, parents or caretakers of children, pregnant women, elderly persons, and persons who are blind or disabled, and the Virginia Medicaid population for Fiscal Year 2008 was  487,929 children, 142,180 parents or caretakers of children and pregnant women, 81,541 elderly persons, 182,636 persons who are blind or who have disabilities; and

WHEREAS, due to the provisions of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Obama on March 22, 2010, Virginia will add an estimated 400,000 residents to its Medicaid rolls, and by 2022, will spend an additional $1.1 billion, according to a projection from Virginia’s DMAS cited publically by Governor Robert F. McDonnell.

WHEREAS, private practice providers, general hospitals, children’s hospitals, and other health care providers have expressed grave concern that an open ended surge in Medicaid beneficiaries, and an anticipated decrease in reimbursement rates by States, will force providers out of business or force them to turn away currently served Medicaid populations; and

WHEREAS, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors strongly believes that there should be affordable access to high quality health care in Prince William County, and is gravely concerned that the changes to Medicaid will reduce the amount of affordable care available and reduce the Medicaid population’s access to health care as well; and

 

WHEREAS, Prince William County funds the administration of Medicaid benefits through their general fund, and the general fund is the primary source of funding for education, police protection, transportation, and all other critical county functions as identified in the strategic plan; and

 

WHEREAS, Prince William County currently provides local taxpayer funding totaling $6,526,214  within the Department of Social Services in FY 2010 administering benefits including Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Food Stamps, Medicaid, Refugee Resettlement, Auxiliary Grants for the elderly and disabled, general relief, and financial assistance to eligible families for the purchase of child care services; and

WHEREAS, according to testimony provided to the Board of County Supervisors on March 23, 2010 there is already a shortage of benefits administration staff and therefore insufficient capacity to handle the increase in the Medicaid eligible population created  by the federal PPAC; and

WHEREAS, the PPAC constitutes an indirect unfunded mandate which completely ignores the cost of administration to local jurisdictions, forcing them to reallocate their scarce human services resources to less critical populations;

WHEREAS, Prince William County will honor state and federal law but is concerned that the PPAC will place a significant new financial burden on localities in the near future;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Prince William Board of County Supervisors requests that the Department of Social Services, assisted by County staff:

1.      Estimate the additional population eligible for Medicaid in Prince William County as of January 1, 2014 according to the provisions of the PPAC and the regulations which will probably be promulgated by the federal government to implement the PPAC; and

2.      Estimate the additional financial burden to the County taxpayers for additional administration of benefits for the newly expanded, less-sensitive population; and

3. Work with private health care providers to estimate the magnitude of the reduction of available health care options for the Medicaid population in Prince William County;  and

4. Advise the Commonwealth and the federal government that unless additional resources are found at the federal and state levels of government to fund the administration of the expansion of Medicaid, that Prince William County will be forced to raise taxes on County residents or slash strategic services in order to fund eligibility workers to administer the massive expansion in the eligible population which will become effective on January 1, 2014 enrollment of newly covered beneficiaries.

AND, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Prince William BOCS directs the County Executive to:

  1. Estimate the increased cost burden the PPAC will have on the County’s provision of health insurance to its employees; and
  1. Provide comment to the Federal government as regulations and procedures are written which implement the Health Reform legislation in order to ensure that the impacts on local governments both from the significant expansion of Medicaid and from the implementation of other sections of the legislation are fully articulated.

Votes:

Ayes:

Nays:

Absent from Vote:

Absent from Meeting:

For Information:

None

CERTIFIED COPY___________________________________________________________

Clerk to the Board

Original Proclamation made by Corey over the weekend of April 10, 2010

Corey Stewart, All Facade, No Substance

corey 

 Once again, Chairman Stewart is using his fellow colleagues to promote his need for media coverage. I imagine they are getting pretty fed up with his antics. On April 13, Corey travels to Stafford to unveil his plan of anarchy, the plan where he is going to pass a resolution directing PWC staff NOT to implement the new Medicaid guidelines that will include accessibility to health care for a family of four making less than 29,000 dollars a year. You know, those pesky working poor that would otherwise not be eligible for coverage. Then on April 15, TEA party rally day in PWC, Corey hands out his flyers, hocking for support of his “resolution to opt out of Medicaid” on the May 4th BOCS meeting.

I am hopeful his fellow Board members are finally going to tell Corey that his mis-use of his office has simply gone far enough. Moonhowlings.net  has a copy of the actual resolution Corey will be proposing, and let me tell you, the supposed “lion” is simply a declawed domestic cat. Corey is lying to his base if they believe he has actually gone through with his threat to disobey the “rule of law”. All the resolution does is misdirect money to determine the impacts of the new recipients of Medicaid. We will be posting the resolution in pieces with our own refutations from plenty of credible sources.

Apparently, the folks at the News & Messenger agree, based on their editorial today: 

(posted in its entirety) 

 

EDITORIAL:  Keep your eye on the county, Stewart

Our View
Published: April 21, 2010
 
When will Corey Stewart stop giving the impression that he is running for the next office and focus on the business of the county?
 
Recently Stewart, the head of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, announced that he will put forward a resolution to prevent county employees from implementing new Medicaid regulations when they take effect in 2014.
 
While this may score him political points with the Republicans whose support he might need next time he tries to step to higher office, it doesn’t do much for county residents—the people Stewart is actually supposed to be serving.
 
Stewart said the new regulations—which are part of the national health care reform legislation—will be costly and won’t survive any real legal challenge.

Stewart also said, “I don’t think the county should be responsible for administering a federal program.”It is one thing for Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to challenge health care reform—he is, after all, the state’s lawyer—but Stewart’s realm of power is Prince William County and his duty is governing. That’s where his attention should stay.

Perhaps the new Medicaid regulations aren’t legal, but that is not something for the Prince William Board of County Supervisors to decide.

And they could be costly. Of course, the legal battles that could result from the county’s refusal to follow federal law would probably also drain the taxpayer’s wallet.

As for whether the county should be responsible for administering a federal program, it is interesting Stewart did not hold to this line of thought when he decided the county should take charge of enforcing federal law on illegal immigration. Sounds less like a principled stance and more like political opportunism to us.

We are all for Stewart being a strong county leader. We just wish that his strength could be focused more narrowly on local matters and less on attention-grabbing issues.

It does the county no good to constantly be in the headlines for the radical actions of some of its supervisors. The only people that benefit are people like Stewart, who garner press while the county’s reputation suffers.

The county can address the local impact of things like illegal immigration and the new Medicaid regulations, but it can do so in ways that do not damage our home or end up in court. The problem with Stewart has never been that he doesn’t fight for the county, it’s been that he serves the county second and his ego first.

 

 

Posted by Elena

Mother Earth–You Fickle Bitch!

ss-100416-volcano-update-2_ss_fullJon Stewart thinks people are always trying to make others feel guilty. Mother Earth apparently is no different.
He is also very disappointed in the lack of truly good descriptors for the volcano and its unpronounceable name. He names it Kevin. He can say that name. He attempts to help out the lack-luster coverage of the Icelandic volcano.

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Jon Stewart: Conservative Libertarian

Warning: some adult subject matter.

Jon Stewart does a real good Glenn Beck. You have to watch out for that social justice!

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Is it just me or does Jon Stewart’s spoof make more sense than Glenn Beck?
I have decided Beck is just dangerous. His audience is too wide and there are just too many people who buy into this crap. Is this a cult?

Remade in America pt 2: Is Perception Reality?

From the New York Times, Sunday, March 15, 2009

Then there is Hylton High School’s home county, Prince William. What was once a mostly white, middle-class suburb 35 miles southwest of the nation’s capital has been transformed by a construction boom into a traffic-choked sprawl of townhouses and strip malls where Latinos are the fastest-growing group.

Neighborhood disputes led the county to enact laws intended to drive illegal immigrants away. White and black families with the means to buy their way out of the turmoil escaped to more affluent areas. Hispanic families, feeling threatened or just plain unwelcome, were torn between those who had legal status and those who did not. Many fled.

By last March, educators reported that at least 759 immigrant students had dropped out of county schools. Hylton, whose 2,200 student population is almost equal parts white, black and Latino and comes from working-class apartment complexes and upscale housing developments, was one of the hardest hit.

The New York Times is a large, well-funded newspaper that has national stature. Is the above excerpt from the article how things really happened here in Prince William County? Is this how our county looked to those outside the region? Is this how we want to be perceived?

Would you want to relocate in Prince William County after this description? If you were a business, would you want to move here?

At what point does it really matter what really happened? Has perception become reality?