PBMom's Blog

Ever since Patrick entered intermediate school last year, he's received a report card.  In all his years since he entered school in January 1999, I've received progress codes on his individualized educational plan (which has all the goals the school and I have come up with that we would like for him to attain by the end of the next school year).  That report makes more sense to me.  Let me give you an example of one of his Math skill goals:

"After given a model of an ABAB pattern, Patrick will independently match the pattern in order with no more than 4 manipulatives given to him all at once for 85% of the cold probe trials (which means they take data at the beginning of the day to see if he retained the information from the day before), 1st trial of the day/after lunch for 2 consecutive weeks during structured table activities." 

(Yes, and he has goals like this that number about 25-30 I think in all different areas).  Some we achieve and master, some we don't.  He has mastered this goal by the grading period in October.  Yeah for Patrick and good job for the school district. 

However, I get stuff like this and it drives me crazy.  See picture below:

So what is the problem?  This makes him look like he is a honor student at this institution.  He should be receiving 0.  He does not read or write or do math at a 6th grade level.  In fact, because of his regression that occurred in Aug 2004 to Dec 2006 because he wasn't properly taught with applied behavior analysis as was agreed upon by the school district, he lost 81% of his school which included pre-reading skills, which means preschool levels.  My first logical question at the meeting was, "Why?"  How could my child get these awesome grades when he can't read, write, or do math?" 

I was told they were "participation-only" grades. 

"Oh really," was my reply.  Being suspicious of all things administration-related by Conroe ISD which continues to not inspire me by falling back on previous promises made, I am told TEA requires them to do this. 

Next question, "What changed then in August 2007-May 2008 than all the years previously because they've never required they issue these before?  Was there a law that changed that required them to fill these out"  I get no real reply.  Instead, the subject matter is changed.  When they do stuff like that, my next question is, "What are you getting out of this?  More funding?"

Patrick's feelings aren't involved here at all.  He doesn't understand the concept of receiving a 0 grade.  That issue is ruled out.  My thoughts center around the fact that having a report card like this must get the school district more funding. 

So what do you all think?  I think it should accurately reflect the work he is doing on a 6th grade level, which is 0% as compared to typical peers his age.  It makes me wonder how many other children are getting high grades just because they've participated instead of truly reflecting the accuracy of their learning comprehension. 

I would be interested to hear all your thoughts about it and if someone actually has a better response than what I've received from my school district. 

I would never in a million years believe that I would be a victim of identity theft.  I am meticulous -- did I say METICULOUS -- about shredding everything even down to the name and address in the back of catalogs.  Nothing had been stolen as far as physical cards or personal information from my home.  My computer was not hacked.  Places I had used my card on-line had not been hacked. 

After a horrible week that began on November 15th with Patrick having a 3-hour tantrum and discovering on Sunday when we all woke up that he had injured himself in the process, to the seizure he had on Tuesday (which may be why he had a 3-hour tantrum on Saturday), to Friday.  When I got home from grocery shopping, Jeff came in from getting Patrick and very sternly directed that he had to talk to me RIGHT NOW.  I was a bit freaked.  He's never spoken to me like that in all the 18 years I've known him.  I thought he was going to tell me something that was told to him at the car by school when he picked him up.  He asked me if I had been buying Christmas gifts at Best Buy.  I told him no.  And oddly enough, a sense of relief rushed over me that I didn't have yet another war about to erupt with the school district.  Just credit card fraud?  I've walked through the fires of hell with the school district.  Credit card fraud?  A walk in the park next to that.  LOL.

He said our credit card company had called us to inform us of possible fraud.  They gave us the zip code of one of the denied charges and that led me to the Galleria Best Buy.  And between one phone call Friday night and another call to the fraud division of my credit card and Best Buy again, I discovered the following:

Our card had been swiped by a reader that took the information from the magnetic strip and from there, they produced a dummy card.  There is only one place where our credit card had left our sight in November and that was at a restaurant (I will not list name here).  Waiter at the restaurant got into trouble because he served Jeff and his friends dirty drinking water.  He apparently had been having a very bad day and was in a very bad mood.  He is my prime suspect.   A police report has been filled out and I am filing charges if the person is caught regardless of the fact that the credit card company is removing the charges that did go through off. 

On 11/20, at 5:51 p.m., thief entered the Best Buy store at West Oaks and bought a home theater unit and a Playstation 3.  Charge $778.00.  This charge went through on my card

On 11/20 at 10:23 p.m., thief entered the Best Buy at Bunker Hill store and bought a TV and a game for Playstation 3.  Charge $778.00. 

On 11/21 at an unknown time (I've gotta call the credit card company back to get the time stamp on this one), thief used the card at an Aquafill vending machine.  Vending machine location unknown, but manufacturer is out of Malverne, PA.  Charge was $2.00.  I guess thief was testing the water to see if charges would still go through on the card.

On 11/21 at 2:56 p.m., thief went into Best Buy at the Galleria and tried to charge $974.23.  Charge was denied.   A call was placed to our house at this time.

On 11/21 at 3:25 p.m., said thief went into Best Buy at Sharpstown and tried to charge $519.57.  Charge was denied. 

I found out from the police officer who took the report that the one and only detective in The Woodlands wouldn't get the case for a week.  Best Buy said they can't let me see the tape without a subpoena and they only keep the recordings for 30 days, so the detective is going to be a little sick of me as I bug him on a daily basis to get the subpoenas before the evidence is gone.  I've done a lot of the leg work for him here. 

Needless to say, I'm keeping close tabs on my other cards, especially our checking account/debit card, and changing all my passwords, got copies of our credit reports, etc. 

I also humbled from both my ignorance and arrogance that we were untouchable.

Once they get the tape, if it is the same person, Jeff and two other people feel they could identify this person if it is the person we think is prime suspect.  If not, then I hope it leads to an arrest eventually.  People cannot get away with this.  They picked the wrong family to mess with.  Jeff was seething with anger on Saturday night just thinking that this idiot was sitting back playing a Playstation 3 game on their new TV, Playstation 3 and home theater unit, thinking they had just scammed someone.   I send kudos out to my credit card company for being so swift to catch the fradulent activity before it got really out of control.

I know it is the middle of the month, but my caregiving duties have caused me to get behind. 

Hats off to all the caregivers out there, whether they are taking care of their children with disabilities and chronic illnesses, or their own spouses, parents, grandparents, etc.   If you speak to those people, they never feel like their road has been paved with a burden.  They care for their loved ones with great love and compassion.  It is a life of service.  It is a life of finding the blessings in the face of challenge. 

If you know of someone who is a caregiver, think about doing something thoughtful for them this month.  Here are some suggestions:

1.  Call the caregiver and let them know what time you'll be bringing dinner.  Bring food in disposable containers so they don't have to worry about returning items. 

2.  Offer to babysit for a few hours.  It doesn't matter if they stay at home and perhaps take a nap or go out, perhaps attend church for the first time in months.  It will refresh them and put gas in their tank for a long time to come. 

3.  Listen.  Sometimes we just need to vent and not have someone judge us or offer us solutions.  Avoid cliches. 

4.  Help them celebrate special occasions by just showing up.  Your presence is the gift. 

5.  Bring lunch in.  Caregiving long-term can be a lonely road.  Isolation is the biggest enemy. 

6.  Don't provide phony encouragement.  Allow a family to feel sad, to prepare for the worst if need be. 

7.  Go with the person if they have a doctor appointment where they expect bad news. 

8.  Invite the family over to be part of your family, even if it is a simple BBQ. 

http://tinyurl.com/68vs46

I've never really done a music review before so please be gentle with me.  As many of you already know, I love David Cook.  Tonight right after midnight, fan club members got to hear a release of his CD. 

The CD starts off with songs like Declaration (10), Heroes (8), Light On (which has been out for a few weeks, a 10), Come Back to Me (10), Life on the Moon (8).

Then we move into a different sound, a harder rock, blues-type song in Ba-ba-sol, which I decided was worthy of an 8 because it sounds different, but not too much different.

One more rock-like song, Mr. Sensitive, I also give an 8. 

Then come about four lighter rock songs -- Lie (8), I Did It For You (8), my personal favorite of this group, Avalanche (score 10), because of the lyrics, and back down to an 8 with Permanent.

A Daily Anthem started bringing things up again (8). 

Then you had a very out-of-place song, "The Time of My Life."   I think the CD ended better on A Daily Anthem, but I understand why they put it in there. 

Although it doesn't have wide extremes like Chris Daughtry's debut  of Daughtry, if you like David Cook and like the way he sings, you won't be disappointed in getting it.  It is out on Tuesday, November 18, 2008.

To give you a contrast, I had to turn off Taylor Hicks CD because it was so bad even though I liked him over Katherine as an entertainer.  If Chris couldn't get it then Taylor was the better choice.  But Chris grossly outsold Taylor so it matters not. 

Enjoy!  Leave comments here about how you liked it. 

The CD is going to be hot, but then, so is David Cook.

Payments by drugmakers to Vermont physicians between July 2002 and June 2004 totaled more than $4.9 million, much more than the $2.7 million that was previously reported by Public Citizen in an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in March 2007. The payment details were hidden by 21 drugmakers that designated the data as trade secrets, according to Public Citizen, which says it obtained the data through ligitation and released an updated analysis including the newly obtained data. The new material was published in a letter November 4, 2008 to JAMA and is a follow up to Public Citizen's testimony last year before the Senate Commitee on Aging. Public Citizen, the advocacy group, sued the Vermont attorney general and the drugmakers to unseal info about the payments. In their statement on November 4, Public Citizen says these comprised 43 percent of all payments (9,182 of 21,409) and 56 percent of all dollars ($2.72 million of $4.90 million) paid to doctors in the state. Among the drugmakers involved were Abbott Labs, AstraZeneca, Sanofi-Aventis, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Roche, Lilly, Merck and Glaxo. One of the key findings is that Vermont physicians received $3.2 million in payments over $100 from drugmakers, 86% of all such payments to health care providers. Public Citizen maintains these strongly suggest frequent violations of professional guidelines issued by the American Medical Association and PhRMA, both of which prohibit many gifts from exceeding $100. "Patients should be able to find out which drug and medical device companies are paying their doctors and how much," Peter Lurie, deputy director of Public Citizen's Health Ressearch Group, in the statement. "If doctors and drug companies don't feel comfortable about making the relationships public, they ought to reconsider the relationship itself." Consider this -- This is just one state. Take into account the demographics of other states and the diseases that are most prevalent at various locations. It's more money paid to doctors et. al than one could possibly imagine.

Dan A said as a former drug rep with big pharma, "I never had a limit on who I bought in the ten years I was involved with this vocation. In fact, I received larger raises per year that directly and specifically correlated with the amount of money I gave to prescribers. The more I spent from my employer to physicians, the more I made.  This is common in all big pharma companies."

Considering how small Vermont is, I would love to know what the totals are for Texas. 

On Thursday, Senator Dan Patrick will be meeting with the community about issues related to autism spectrum disorders.  Education is on the forefront of people's minds in Texas, with school districts now engaging in the silent cleansing of our children from public schools.  (Nod to Dianna Pharr for the "silent cleasning" comment).  Senator Dan Patrick is a passionate supporter of school choice for our children, and in recent testimony as a member of the Texas Senate Education Committee, said he would fight until his dying breath for parents to have a choice.  We need general education parents to get on board to help us accomplish this.  Here are the details:

"Government was never meant to be a spectator sport."

So…    join us for a Legislative Advocacy Workshop & Town Hall Meeting with Senator Dan Patrick on Autism/Disability Issues.  This is your opportunity to be in the starting line-up of the 81st Legislative Session that will begin in Austin in January 2009.

     Date:  Thursday evening, November 6th, from 6:30pm until 9:00pm
     Location:  Graceview Baptist Church, 25510 Tomball Parkway, Tomball, TX  77375
     Contact:  NHC-ASA, Michelle M. Guppy,  NorthwestHoustonChapterASA@yahoo.com or 281-686-0103
     This is a free event brought to you by NHC-ASA;  but you must pre-register to attend.

About the presenters:

Colleen Horton will be discussing the many Legislative Agenda items for the upcoming Legislative Session. She will share how parents can be effective Partners in the Policymaking process.  Colleen Horton is the Public Policy Director for the Texas Center for Disability Studies at the University of Texas in Austin. 

Jeff Sell is the Vice-President of Public Policy, Advocacy and Legal Affairs, for the Autism Society of America.  He will give opening remarks on behalf of the ASA’s Legislative Agenda, and serve as moderator for the Town Hall meeting.

Senator Dan Patrick represents District 7 which includes the following school districts:  Aldine, Cy-Fair, Houston, Humble, Katy, Klein, Spring Branch, Spring, Tomball, Waller.  You can read about the Senator’s many accomplishments and committees served on by going to his webpage. http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/senate/members/dist7
/dist7.htm

Town Hall Meeting Guidelines:
* We will pre-choose testimonies/questions from parents, professionals, educators, administrators, and organizations….   
* All testimonies and questions must be sent to us by November 4th.  You will be notified by e-mail if you are chosen to read your testimony or ask your question.  Each person will have a maximum of three minutes to speak.  All other testimonies and questions not chosen to be shared that night, will be put in a binder to give to Senator Dan Patrick. 
We encourage everyone to submit their testimony or question even if you cannot attend the event!

* We want questions/testimonies representing many perspectives… but only as they relate to Autism or Disability Issues in the State of Texas or as they relate to Special Education Services.

 Registration procedure:  

Please register by e-mail prior to November 4th so that we may have adequate seating!
Send an e-mail to:  NorthwestHoustonChapterASA@yahoo.com

 In the subject line put "Town Hall Meeting".

 The body of your word document or e-mail should have at the top:

* Your full name - and whether you are a parent, professional, agency, organization, educator, administrator

* Your address and zip code

* Your e-mail address for confirmation if you are chosen to share your question or testimony.

*  In the body of the e-mail or word document - type out your question or testimony for Senator Dan Patrick as you would read it that night.  Please remember you have a maximum of three minutes to read it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~

Childcare provided by:  The JOY Ministry – a Disability Ministry of Graceview Baptist Church.
 If you need childcare to attend, please contact Tonya Magagh at Respite4All@yahoo.com or call Denise Briley at 281-351-4979.  Childcare is limited and you must RSVP as soon as possible.  Pizza and beverages will be provided for children, however if your child is on a special diet, please bring their food.  Childcare is limited and on a reservation-only basis.  Not at the door requests please….

The presidents of our generation have enjoyed just having regular dogs and/or cats in the White House, but our presidents of previous generations have had some interesting "First Pets."

Pygmy hippo, antelope, wallaby, bear, tigers/lions:  Calvin Coolidge

Alligator:  John Quincy Adams

Elephant:  James Buchanan

Zebra, coyote, hyena, bear, tigers/lions:  Theodore Roosevelt

Bear:  Thomas Jefferson

Tigers/lions:  Martin Van Buren

I heard President-Elect Obama say in his acceptance speech say that his daughters have earned their new puppy.  Might I suggest:

The golden retriever!!!!

This was pretty cute.  Found this on one of the pet sites I get emails from.  Why Dogs and Cats are Better Than Kids.  There are about 33 on the list, but here are the ones I liked most. 

1.  Eat less.

2.  Don't ask for money all the time.

3.  Easier to train

4.  Normally come when called.

5.  They do not answer back.

6.  They don't become embarrassed to be seen with you when they reach adolescence. 

7.  Get the same meal every night and are grateful.

8.  At night, you can lock them in their kennel and no one will call Child Protective Services on you.

9.  If they get pregnant, you can sell their children.

10.  They don't need electronic gadgets.  A tennis ball will do just fine and a pair of socks is even better.

So now it's your turn.  Add to the list. 

I was listening to the news tonight and had to do a double take when I heard this -- there was a fire at a nuclear missile silo that went undetected for five days. 

I thought certainly I must have misheard, misunderstood. 

Yesterday, the Associated Press did a story about a fire that occurred on May 23 at a Minuteman III missile silo that burned itself out after an hour or two.  However, the Air Force didn't know a fire had occurred until May 28 when the repair crew went to the launch site because a trouble signal indicated a wiring problem. 

They would not confirm, of course, whether the missile was armed with a nuclear warhead at the time of the fire.  When they say things like that, I take it to be a yes, otherwise they would say, the warhead was not armed and there was no danger at any time. 

The battery chargers at all US missle launch sites have been replaced. 

The fire was extensive enough to have caused $1 million worth of damage.  The report that was finally released on Thursday said the Air Force "found flaws in the technical orders for assembling battery charger parts, inspection procedures, and modifications of the launch complex ventilation system. "  The AP said, "It was also critical of the presence of flammable materials." 

The AP report says that the launch site is about 40 miles east of Cheyenne, WO and 100 miles NE of Denver.  The mayor of Cheyenne first learned about the problem on Thursday. 

The AP report also reminded its readers of a string of missteps involving the nation's nuclear arsenal.  In 2006, four electrical fuses for ballastic missile warheads were mistakenly shipped to Taiwan, and in 2007, a B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped missles when it flew between Air Force bases in North Dakota and Louisiana.

Something about the words "fire" and "nuclear missile silo" just leave me feeling...terrified. 

It also reminds me of the words "radioactive nuclear waster" on a "train or truck" headed to "Yucca Mountain" for disposal that is a disaster waiting to happen once that begins. 

What a great blog to write before heading off to bed.  Sweet dreams, America.

From the article:  "Judging from the jersey, this mid-western Eva Peron is a fan of the St. Louis Blues, a team that has a legitimate beef with Sara Palin. You see, not long after she was roundly booed in Philadelphia by Flyer fans when she showed up to "drop the puck" in a game against the New York Rangers, Palin continued her ill-fated tour of hockey arenas in St. Louis. There, Blues goalie Manny Legace slipped on a carpet laid out for Palin's entry onto the ice, was injured, gave up two goals in the first period, then left the game."

I couldn't stop laughing.  Politics doesn't have to be all serious all the time.

There are some antipsychotic drugs that are leaving children and the elderly ill having received them as treatment of conditions they didn't even have.  State legislators are now fighting back.

Zyprexa use has grown as much as 12-fold since 2000 with a corresponding growth in side effects like weight gain, blood sugar changes, and cholesterol problems. 

In March of 2008, Alaska won $15 million as a settlement from Eli Lilly to recoup medical costs generated by Medicaid patients who developed diabetes while taking Zyprexa. 

Last year, Bristol-Myers Squibb settled a federal suit for $515 million charging that it illegally hawked the drug Abilify to children and the eldery, bilking taxpayers. 

Now Idaho, Washington, Montana, Connecticut, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, Arkansas, and Texas are taking the pharmaceutical companies to court over its antipsychotic prescription marathon that has left the poor and mentally ill in even worse health and children and elderly patients in "chemical straightjackets" for conditions they didn't have.

The drugs are:  Zyprexa, Risperdal, Seroquel, Abilify, and Geodon.

Although these drugs were developed to treat schizophrenia and later approved for bipolar disorder (Risperdal is also approved for autism-related irritability in children), pharmaceutical companies wasted no time in marketing them for non-FDA-approved uses like ADHD, conduct disorders, dementia, sleep disorders, depression, simple mood swings, "netting $8,000 a year per person, usually from state coffers."

When these antipsychotics debuted in the 1990's they seemed to lack the side effects thorazine and Haldol caused.  But soon further "clinical testing" also known as "selling it to the public while the patent is hot" revealed they caused the same side effects and more -- increased mortality in elderly patients, suicide risk, high blood sugar, diabetes, and blood disorders.  In fact, Seroquel and Abilify have not just one black box warning but two. 

A NIMH study of 119 children ages 8 to 19 with psychotic symptoms published in September found that Risperdal and Zyprexa were no more effective than Moban, but caused such obesity that a safety panel ordered the children off the drugs.  In just 8 weeks, children on Risperdal gained 9 pounds while those on Zyprexa gained 13; children on Moban gained less than a pound. 

But it gets worse.  A study of Seroquel in Feb 19, 2005 issue of the British Medical Journal found the drug ineffective in relieving agitation in Alzheimer's patients, a non-FDA-approved use that JP Morgan analysts say represent 29% of all Seroquel sales.  Ah, where are the regulators???? and was associated with "significantly greater cognitive decline than the placebo." 

Eli Lilly's Zyprexa led to a black box warning after they discovered on their own there was an elevated stroke risk and numbers of death in five of its Zyprexa clinical trials.  This in turn led to a letter to doctors in 2004 that the FDA imposed black box warnings of "increased mortality in elderly patients with dementia" on the above named antipsychotics in 2005 after reviewing 17 clinical studies with four different drugs.  

Dr. David Graham testified last year at a congressional hearing, "But the fact is, is that it increases mortality perhaps by 100 percent.  It double mortality.  So I did a back-of-the-envelope calculation on this, and you have probably got 15,000 elderly people in nursing homes dying each year from the off-label use of antipsychotic medications....with every pill that gets dispensed in a nursing home, the drug company is laughing all the way to the bank." 

A third of the nation's estimated 2.5 million nursing home patients have taken these antipsychotics and the overall atypical antipsychotic tab for Medicare and Medicaid including children in the US is $2 billion a year, according to the New York Times.

And yet....

In 12 states, the pharmaceutical industry has actually written the guidelines that specify atypicals for schizophrenia and discourage older drugs.  Two dozen states have hired the Lilly-backed Comprehensive Neuroscience to show them how to lower their drug costs (not even joking here).

If there was ever an industry that needed better regulation...let's add an overhaul of how pharmaceutical companies are profitting at the expense of our lives. 

Go get 'em Texas (for them to recoup their costs).  But how do you replace the life of the loved one that was devastated, or worse, the death of a loved one, because of this reckless behavior that the FDA continues to allow happen.  Time for an agency overhaul, too.  I think that is the ultimate goal of pharmaceutical companies -- treat one symptom, but create a whole new set of problems (like high blood sugar) so doctors will have to prescribe to you yet another one of their drugs to cure that, which will make something else go wrong....

Who is the real John McCain when it comes to the issue of abortion?  When he was running in 1999, he was the pro choice candidate who was not in favor of repealing Roe v Wade.   I believe he knew he would not win the Republican ticket with this record, so he flip flopped.  I offer two videos for your viewing.  One is from Fox News, and one is from a group who still doesn't believe him. 

Here is my little Patrick in his first costume.  He hated it.

On the chat the other day we were talking about Halloween costumes, and if you could get dressed to look like any of our Fox 26 news and crew, who would you like to dress up as?  Let's say we had Mission Impossible masks that allowed you to look exactly like them.  Which one would you choose and why?  I thought Melissa Wilson should dress up as Mike Barajas for the day.  But who would YOU like to impersonate for a day?

Shellstar:  Here you go.   This is probably part 1 of maybe 4.  But I figured I should get something out to you as downpayment on my promise to you.  These are some of the reasons why I voted for Obama:

Votes I agree with:

Yes      Unintended Pregnancy Amendment

Yes      Limited on Farm Subsidies

Yes      Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill of 2007

Yes      Transit Security Amendment

Yes      Defense Department FY 2007 Authorization Bill

Yes      Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act 2006

Yes      Influenza Vaccine Injury Compensation Amendment

No       Sugarcane Growers Funding Amendment (which would have helped Hawaii)

Yes      Department Deparment FY 2006 Appropriations Bill

Yes      Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill FY 2006

Yes     Defense Department FY 2006 Authorization Bill

Yes     Foreign Operations FY2006 Appropriations Bill (which included, I might add, this law that was added in:  Prohibits the use of funds to pay for the performance of abortions as a method of family planning, to motivate or coerce any individual to practice abortion, or perform involuntary sterilizations

Yes      Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA Appropriations Act

Yes      After School Funding Amendment

No       Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Funding Amendment

Yes      Transportation, Treasury, HUD, Judiciary, Appropriation

Yes      Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA Appropriations Act

Yes      Interior Department FY 2006 Appropriations Bill

Yes      Foreign Operations FY2006 Appropriations Bill

Yes      Increase the Number of Detention Beds Amendment

Yes      Homeland Security Department FY 2006 Appropriations Act

Yes      Air Cargo Security Programs Implementation Amendment

Yes      Energy and Water Appropriations bill FY 2006  (this gave money for clean coal technology which McCain says Obama never supported, so McCain was obviously wrong)

Yes      Interior Department FY 2006 Appropriations Bill

Yes      Amtrak Reauthorization

Yes      Medicare Bill

Yes      Iraq and Afghanistan War Funding, Unemployment Benefits Extension, and GI Bill (McCain was a “NV” meaning he was either Not Voting, Excused, Absent, or Present)

Yes      GI Bill and Other Domestic Provisions.  Again McCain was a NV on this.

Yes      Concurrent Budget Resolution (important issues in this vote; McCain was an NV on this)

Yes      Earmark Moratorium (against earmarks)

Yes      Restriction of Federal Assistance Based on Compliance with Federal Immigration Laws (important one -- To create a reserve fund to ensure that Federal assistance does not go to sanctuary cities that ignore the immigration laws of the United States and create safe havens for illegal aliens and potential terrorists.  McCain was an NV on this one, too.  And he complains Obama votes “present”???

Yes      Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of Defense and Timeline for Withdrawal from Iraq (Another NV for John McCain).

No       Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of Defense (no timeline on this one.  Again NV for John McCain)

Yes      State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization  (John McCain voted no on this one). 

Yes      Energy Act of 2007 (McCain an NV on this one, too)

Yes      Alternative Energy Subsidies (McCain NV on this one, too)

Yes      Congressional Budget for 2008 (McCain voted no)

Yes      Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill of 2007 with Iraq Withdrawal Timeline (McCain an NV on this one)

Yes      Education Funding Amendment  Important because S Amdt 3071 to S Con Res 83: To increase funding for Title I grants and reduce debt by closing corporate tax loopholes.   McCain voted no.

Yes      Reinstate Pay-As-You-Go through 2011 Amendment (McCain also voted yes)

Yes      Temporary Tax on Crude Oil Amendment (Important:  S Amdt 2626 to S 2020: To impose a temporary windfall profits tax on crude oil and to use the proceeds of the tax collected to fund programs under the Low-Income Energy Assistance Act of 1981 through a trust fund.  (McCain voted no – Palin however, gave windfall profits to her residents of her states). 

Yes      Tax Rate Amendment -- S Amdt 2610 to S 2020: To reinstate for millionaires a top individual income tax rate of 39.6 percent, the pre-May 2003 rates of tax on capital gains and dividends, and to repeal the reduction and termination of the phase out of personal exemptions and overall limitation on itemized deductions, until the Federal budget deficit is eliminated.  McCain voted no.

Yes      Medicare Prescription Drug Amendment (McCain also voted yes)

No       Budget Reconciliation bill (because it had an amendment in there about drilling in Anwar)

No       Budget FY2006 Appropriations Resolution (because it maintains the President's tax cuts through 2010.  McCain voted yes)

Yes      Education Amendment (Note:  This would close $10.8 billion in corporate tax loopholes)  McCain voted no.

.

Yes      Perkins Vocational Education Program Amendment (McCain voted no)

Yes      Homeland Security Grant Program Amendment (Important:  S Amdt 220 to S Con Res 18: To protect the American people from terrorist attacks by restoring $565 million in cuts to vital first-responder programs in the Department of Homeland Security, including the State Homeland Security Grant program, by providing $150 million for port security grants and by providing $140 million for 1,000 new border patrol agents.  (McCain voted no)

Yes      Native American Funding Amendment (McCain voted no)

Yes      Tax Subsidy for Domestic Companies Amendment.  S AMDT 210 to S Con Res 18: To repeal the tax subsidy for certain domestic companies which move manufacturing operations and American jobs offshore.  McCain voted no. 

Ones I have mixed feelings about

Yes      Labor, HHS, Education, FY 2006 Appropriations bill (This bill increased funding to special education, however, it also appropriated $8.16 billion for the development and distribution of an influenza vaccine and $10 million for national abstinence education campaign (which has been proven doesn’t work)

Yes      Defense Department FY2006 Appropriations bill (Agree with this part - Reaffirms that torture of prisoners of war and detainees is against United States policies and international law and prohibits cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of any individual in the custody or physical control of the U.S. government, regardless of geographic location.  However, disagree with this spending:  $3.91 billion for activities relating to the avian flu.

Yes      Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program Amendment  (Local utility programs have programs to help low-income people with their energy bills provided by people who wish to give to that program.

Yes      Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2006:  Didn’t like this:  - $1.1 billion for the salaries and expenses of the House of Representatives.  $785.55 million for the salaries and expenses of the Senate- $428.48 million for the Architect of the Capitol

Yes      Interior Department FY 2006 Appropriations Bill.  This included:  Waves environmental laws in order to complete the 14-mile border fence between the US and Mexico near San Diego.  I don’t believe the wall should be built.  Waste of time and money. 

Where I totally disagree:

No       US Agency for International Development Amendment

Yes      Second Economic Package