Couldn’t Help But Notice (112106)
Receipts pouring in, money flying out – The Monthly US Treasury report for October showed receipts of $167.7 billion, up $18.2 billion (12.2%) from October 2005, and spending of $217.0 billion, up $20.2 billion (10.3%).
__________________
Press claims to the contrary, being prolife was an advantage in the election 2 weeks ago:
A whopping 36% of the total sample (in a national poll) said that the abortion issue influenced their vote. Almost exactly two-thirds of that figure (23%) voted for candidates opposing abortion as compared to only 13% who voted for candidates favoring abortion. The pro-life advantage saved a number of candidates.
Those who lost typically were felled by other issues, the importance of which overrode or neutralized the advantage enjoyed on the abortion issue by the pro-life candidate.
And speaking of EMILY’s List, NRL PAC went head-to-head with the largest pro-abortion PAC in 18 contests. NRL PAC prevailed in 14 of the 18 — 78%!
__________________
The minimum wage law passed two weeks ago in Ohio increased a different minimum wage by 60%. The tipped employee minimum, paid to a group that for the most part earns double-digit wages pre hour including tips, went from $2.13 to $3.43, and is set to remain at half of what the “main” minimum is as it escalates with inflation.
__________________
Gun registration exists in Belgium — “Some 900,000 weapons have been registered in Belgium. They occur on an inventory called the Central Arms Register, however it is estimated that there are many more weapons in circulation.” Doh.
__________________
Target has taken the $4 charge for many generic drugs inititated by Wal-Mart a couple of months ago nationwide. The linked article notes that Giant Eagle is offering offering the same discount at its 93 stores in Ohio. I’m sure other retailers are reacting similarly. Gee, I wonder how long it would have taken a nationalized health care system to get around to this?
__________________
I have to agree with this from Thespis — This was “The Most Philosophically Vacant Election of My Lifetime.” Since I’m probably older than Thespis, I think I’d have to rank 1974 as almost as bad as 2006. Nationally for the Dems, it was basically “Vote for Us; We’re Not Nixon” — pretty similar to “Vote for Us; We’re Not Republicans.” But in Ohio, at least, there was a clear distinction between Jim “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs” Rhodes and John “Tax a Billion” Gilligan. No one who was in Ohio at the time can forget going to bed “knowing” that Gilligan had won (with Rhodes even conceding), only to wake up the next morning to learn that Rhodes had pulled it out by 11,000 votes.
