Plano Balloon Festival

Plano Balloon Festival
Balloons Gracefully Floating Across The Texas Sky
Fri. Sept. 18 to Sun. Sept. 20, 2009

The Plano Balloon Festival is coming Friday, September 18th through Sunday, September 20th. At its usual Saturday night peak attendance level over 50,000 people will be in attendance.

The Democratic Party of Collin County has had a booth at the event for years. The organization is again asking for volunteers to help cover shifts in their booth over the three day festival.
Contact Micky Mayer at 972.818.9595 if you are able to help.

School Daze

By John Cole at The Times Tribune

Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama for the September 8th 'Back to School Event'

Rolling Stone: How Washington Is Screwing Up Health Ins. Reform

Matt Taibbi writes a hard hitting article in the Rolling Stone on the health insurance reform debate. It's long, but it's worth reading the entire thing - it details the health insurance debate describing the actual plans proposed in the House and Senate committees. Through it all Taibbi weaves observations about how the insurance reform idea has gotten so screwed up:

Let's start with the obvious: America has not only the worst but the dumbest health care system in the developed world. It's become a black leprosy eating away at the American experiment — a bureaucracy so insipid and mean and illogical that even our darkest criminal minds wouldn't be equal to dreaming it up on purpose.

The system doesn't work for anyone. It cheats patients and leaves them to die, denies insurance to 47 million Americans, forces hospitals to spend billions haggling over claims, and systematically bleeds and harasses doctors with the specter of catastrophic litigation.

The cost of all of this to society, in illness and death and lost productivity and a soaring federal deficit and plain old anxiety and anger, is incalculable — and that's the good news.

Click to read the full story...

Letter From Lewisville ISD Parent On The ISD's Decision To Block President Obama's Speech

From whosplayin.com - A letter from a Lewisville ISD (LISD) parent to the LISD school board in response to the ISD's decision to block President Obama's speech to school students.

snippets...

. . .Before moving here, my husband and I were both Active Duty servicemembers with the United States Navy, we served proudly for a number of years. During the course of our duty we were faced with the tragedy of September 11th. For me that time was painful and frightening.

. . .My reason for sharing my anecdote with you, was that during this time I never forgot that I had my country behind me. I knew that my government was doing everything in its power to protect its citizen and maintain the greatest country in the world. I knew that the Office of the President of the United States and my Commander in Chief had worked tirelessly to win the position of the most powerful man in the world and that when he spoke, we listened. Not because we always agreed with him but because it was part of the social contract of being a citizen of the United States of America.

. . .After hearing the news that Lewisville Independent School District chose not to televise President Obama's speech to America's school children on the importance of an education and staying in school, I became outraged. As a veteran of the Armed Forces, I am offended that the elected officials who supervise my son's education are disrespecting the Office of the President of the United States. ...I am truly offended by what appears to be a partisan decision that you have made out of fear.

. . .You are robbing my son of these moments that make him American and I will not allow to do so. We will be keeping him home on Tuesday, September 8th so he can witness first hand, the President of the United States address him directly.

Click here to read this concerned parent's letter in full...