As always, the world of politics continues to make headlines in the media.  Below is a list of stories that you might have missed.

HR 3200 Will Cover Illegal Immigrants - Despite claims from several people in congress, the health care reform bill will cover illegal immigrants according to the congressional research service.  This is exactly why our representatives need to read the bills they are supporting.  If they have read it, they are misleading us.

ABC and NBC Show Their Bia Proudly - Media companies make money selling ad space and ad time.  However ABC and NBC are refusing to allow ads that are critical of the President’s health care reform agenda.  The article contains links so you can view the ad and see if you think it is any more misleading than the ads they show that are in favor of the health care reform plan.

National Debt Set to Double - Early in the week, the Obama administration indicated that the 10 year deficit would be approximately $9 trillion, which was $2 trillion more than they predicted two months earlier.  This means that in 2019, the national debt will go from almost $12 trillion to $21 trillion.  The yearly interest alone on that debt will be more than the stimulus bill.

Ted Kennedy Wants to Rollback a Law He Demanded - Prior to his death, Ted Kennedy wrote a letter to the Massachusetts state government  asking that they change state law to allow the governor to appoint a senator to an empty congressional senate seat.  The problem is that in 2004 he lead the charge to change state law to remove the power of interim appointments from the governor.  At the time, Mitt Romney was governor and Kennedy didn’t want Romney to be able to appoint a Republican to the empty seat if John Kerry won the 2004 presidential election.  Apparently the need of the people to have representation is secondary to the needs of the party.

Being that Republican Governor Mitt Romney would almost certainly appoint a republican, Kennedy pushed for the law to be changed to require a special vote within 5 months to elect a replacement, taking the choice of the replacement out of the hands of the governor.

Now that Kennedy is gravely ill, he is imploring the Massachusetts government to change the law back to allow the governor to pick.  Kennedy is declaring that “…it is vital for this commonwealth to have two voices speaking for the needs of its citizens and two votes in the Senate during the approximately five months between a vacancy and an election.”

Odd that he feels this way now that there is a Democrat in the Massachusetts governor’s mansion.  Apparently, the need for representation is only imperative if he can guarantee that a Democrat fills the seat.  He most likely is concerned that if a republican fills the seat, it will be one less vote for nationalized health care.

The Constitution reserves the right to determine how senators are choosen to the states, but it seems wrong to change the law every few years depending upon the circumstances.  The fact that “we the people” stand for such lack of principles in our representatives is an indicator of the sad state of the political environment.

Ted Kennedy’s over 40 years in congress is a shining example of why term limits are necessary.