![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1){kind=small}
lonely for Monday, October 15:
As a self-destructive streak seeps into your life, everything seems unmanageable. It's time to unearth the emotional kernel of this strife before you do more damage. Don't be afraid to face reality -- it's not as scary as you think.
seeing as it almost took me a full twenty four hours to write this post, it's only fair that i lose the ability to output something as cogent as i originally might have wrought. i don't know. i wanted to speak about the feelings of quiet encouragement i received from my exsomeone on yesterday when the lines of communication came open again and though we just exchange dialogue via text messages, and while i didn't place too much import in these messages, i'm glad that everything i had thought had received confirmation. the exsomeone has not gotten plagued by an infirmity of the body but rather a disturbing of the mind. a full-blown anxiety attack, to be accurate and while the exsomeone says that it's not because of going off the lexapro, i can't help but think that that plus whatever family drama's happening might have something to do with it. another part of me thinks that the exsomeone's actually dating someone new and perhaps those two have hit the rocks. anyway. in any case, it made me have a glimmer of hope. just before that i had had a grim talk with my father about the insurance policy on this house not getting renewed and how that will add a sense of urgency to my moving. so. then i watched my shows -- and related to the guy on the show who's life isn't quite together -- and went to work the next day and tried to not think about how horribly we did with a major deadline and how crazily bad my night out with my coworker went seeing as when she went home, she went back out to chamber's and then i went over to the stockbroker's to no avail. i spent an hour on the phone with rob yesterday around midnight on my hands and knees looking for the card on which the eligible from last tuesday wrote down the digits. i think i'll call tomorrow. but after work tonight, i thought i'd call the exsomeone bc i got a call around seven, but the exsomeone didn't answer and hasn't called back and i don't think the exsomeone's even home. but that might just be my self-pitying everyone-else-has-someone-else kicking in so i've taken two benedryls and will sleep deeply bc i'm scraping the bottom of the barrel when the best news in my life relates to ohio state sitting atop the bcs poll which, really, has little to do with me except me needing to get new vintage buckeye shirts and the worst news comes in the veto from governor schwarzenegger which we all knew was coming but as oregon proves, it's in an environment where the politics don't dictate it. and while i largely think that the national political environment has done little more than to educate the moderately politically engaged masses as to the intricacies of our constitutional system, it's interesting that we all understand why the presidency's so important since even a lame duck can grind the country to a halt with a veto and one's clinging to some outdated ideaology can impact real people's lives, children, and pocketbooks. enough babbling.
Astrology
October 15, 2007 • Newsletter
A Push From the Past... nudges you forward!
Don't be surprised if somebody from days gone by gets in touch with you this week, what with relationship planet Venus forming a conjunction with the South Node on October 15. An important person may even lend assistance, since the other significant aspect this week is the Sun sextile powerful Pluto on October 20. Keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities.
Schwarzenegger vetoes gay marriage By STEVE LAWRENCE, Associated Press Writer
Fri Oct 12, 11:14 PM ET
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed another gay marriage bill Friday, saying voters and the state Supreme Court, not lawmakers, should decide the issue.
The Republican governor turned down a measure by Assemblyman Mark Leno that would have defined marriage as a union between two people, not just a man and a woman. Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill from Leno, a San Francisco Democrat, in 2005 and has said he would veto all such bills.
The California Supreme Court is likely to rule next year on whether the state's voter-approved ban on gay marriage violates the constitution.
Schwarzenegger said in his veto message that Californians "should not be discriminated against based upon their sexual orientation." He said he supports state laws that give domestic partners many of the rights and responsibilities of marriage.
Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, a gay rights group, said the veto was "hypocrisy at its worst."
"We find it shocking for the governor to say he opposes discrimination based on sexual orientation and then veto a bill that would have ended discrimination based on sexual orientation," Kors said.
Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved
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News Release
For Immediate Release
October 13, 2007
Log Cabin Disappointed by Governor Schwarzenegger’s Veto of Civil Marriage Equality
Sacramento, CA – "Log Cabin Republicans express disappointment in Governor Schwarzenegger's decision to once again veto legislation to provide civil marriage equality," said Patrick Sammon, President of Log Cabin Republicans.
"Log Cabin Republicans take the Governor at his word, that if, and when, the courts of California join the legislature in recognizing the right to civil marriage equality, he will support that decision," continued Sammon.
In his veto message, Governor Schwarzenegger said, "I support current domestic partner rights and will continue to vigorously defend and support these rights."
“Though we disagree with the Governor’s veto decision, we thank him for sending a strong signal to the people of California that he will not allow the initiative process to marginalize gay and lesbian families,” said James Vaughn, Log Cabin’s California Director. "We look forward to working with the Governor to defeat any anti-marriage or anti-domestic partnership ballot initiative.”
Log Cabin praises the Governor for signing eight pieces of pro-gay legislation:
SB 559 retroactively grants domestic partners exemptions from property tax reassessment after the death of a partner
SB 105 implements joint tax filing by domestic partners
AB 102 allows couples to take the last name of either partner at registration of their domestic partnership
AB 394 reinforces the anti-discrimination laws for LGBT youth in schools
SB 443 makes it possible for HIV positive men to have children through artificial insemination
AB 682 changes the process for patient permission to get an HIV/AIDS test.
AB 14 updates the anti-discrimination policies in several sections of the law
SB 777 reinforces anti-discrimination policies in the education code.
Governor Schwarzenegger has signed twenty-seven pro-LGBT bills, more than any of the past California Governors combined. “The Governor has one of the strongest pro-gay records of any Governor in American history. He is a proven friend of our community,” said Vaughn. “And while friends don’t always agree, we appreciate his on-going support for basic fairness. We will continue working with him on the final barrier to provide complete equality for LGBT people in California.”
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Log Cabin Republicans is the nation's largest organization of Republicans who support fairness, freedom, and equality for gay and lesbian Americans. Log Cabin has state and local chapters nationwide, full-time offices in Washington, DC and Sacramento, CA, a federal political action committee and state political action committees. www.logcabin.org
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Same-sex law overcomes opposition in Ore.
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Opponents of Oregon's new same-sex domestic partnership law failed to turn in enough valid signatures to block the measure, clearing the way for it to take effect next year, state elections officials said Monday.
Oregon will join eight other states that have approved spousal rights in some form for gay couples — Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Maine, California, Washington and Hawaii. Massachusetts is the only state that allows gay couples to marry.
The Oregon measure covers benefits related to inheritance rights, child-rearing and custody, joint state tax filings, joint health, auto and homeowners insurance policies, visitation rights at hospitals and others. It does not affect federal benefits for married couples, including Social Security and joint filing of federal tax returns.
Former state Sen. Marylin Shannon, a spokeswoman for the opponents' petition drive, and other social conservatives believe the domestic partners bill violates the intent of voters who in 2004 adopted a constitutional ban on gay marriage.
"This just flies right in the face of that ban," the former Republican lawmaker said.
Gay rights backers said most Oregonians make a distinction between gay marriage and domestic partnerships, and they support providing protection under state law for same-sex couples who are in committed relationships that currently are not recognized by the state.
"They know that committed couples should have the legal means to take care of each other, especially in a crisis," said John Hummel, executive director of Basic Rights Oregon.
Opponents had conceded in recent days that they probably hadn't gotten enough signatures. But they vowed to take another avenue to try to derail the law along with another law that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.
State elections officials reported Monday that the effort fell short 116 valid signatures of the 55,179 needed to suspend the law and place it on the November 2008 ballot for a popular vote.
"We're not discouraged," Shannon said. "We definitely will file initiatives to repeal both of these laws."
Still, Monday's announcement was a major victory for supporters of the two new laws that had been stymied for more than 30 years in the Legislature before being approved by the House and Senate in May of this year.
In 2004, about 3,000 same-sex couples were granted marriage licenses in Multnomah County before the Oregon Supreme Court nullified the licenses as unconstitutional the following year.
Gay rights activists said that many of those couples plan to file for domestic partnership status as soon as the new law takes effect Jan. 1.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistribute.
Find this article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/200
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October 10, 2007
Petition to Block Oregon's Domestic-Partnership Law Fails
Opponents of Oregon's new same-sex domestic-partnership law failed to turn in enough valid signatures to block the measure, clearing the way for it to take effect next year, state elections officials said Monday.
Oregon will join eight other states that have approved spousal rights in some form for gay couples -- Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Maine, California, Washington, and Hawaii. Massachusetts is the only state that allows gay couples to marry.
The Oregon measure covers benefits related to inheritance rights, child-rearing and custody, joint state tax filings, joint health, auto and homeowners insurance policies, visitation rights at hospitals, and others. It does not affect federal benefits for married couples, including Social Security and joint filing of federal tax returns.
Former state senator Marylin Shannon, a spokeswoman for the opponents' petition drive, and other social conservatives believe the domestic-partnership bill violates the intent of voters who in 2004 approved a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
''This just flies right in the face of that ban,'' the Republican former lawmaker said.
Gay rights backers said most Oregonians make a distinction between same-sex marriage and domestic partnerships and that they support providing protection under state law for same-sex couples who are in committed relationships currently not recognized by the state.
"They know that committed couples should have the legal means to take care of each other, especially in a crisis," said John Hummel, executive director of Basic Rights Oregon.
Opponents had conceded in recent days that they probably hadn't gotten enough signatures. But they vowed to take another avenue to try to derail the law along with another law that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.
State elections officials reported Monday that the effort fell short 116 valid signatures of the 55,179 needed to suspend the law and place it on the November 2008 ballot for a popular vote.
''We're not discouraged,'' Shannon said. ''We definitely will file initiatives to repeal both of these laws.''
Still, Monday's announcement was a major victory for supporters of the two new laws that had been stymied for more than 30 years in the legislature before being approved by the house and senate in May of this year.
In 2004 about 3,000 same-sex couples were granted marriage licenses in Multnomah County before the Oregon supreme court nullified the licenses as unconstitutional the following year.
Gay rights activists said that many of those couples plan to file for domestic-partner status as soon as the new law takes effect January 1. (Brad Cain, AP)
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College football
Buckeyes start at the top
But players know what's really key: keep winning
Monday, October 15, 2007 3:52 AM
By Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Renee Sauer | Dispatch
OSU linebacker James Laurinaitis: "It's an honor to be considered among the top teams in the country, but it doesn't mean anything until the last game of the season."
Ohio State players and coaches reacted with a collective shrug yesterday to the news that the Buckeyes are ranked atop the season's first Bowl Championship Series standings.
It means that if they win their final five games, they likely will play for the national title in January in New Orleans.
But the memory of last season's bitter title-game loss to Florida remains fresh.
"It's an honor to be considered among the top teams in the country, but it doesn't mean anything until the last game of the season," linebacker James Laurinaitis said in a statement. "We found that out last year."
Coach Jim Tressel had similar thoughts.
"Our guys have done what they have needed to do to this point in the year, and we are pleased with that effort and progress, but not content," he said in a statement. "There is a lot of work ahead of us. We've improved each week, but we understand that the only poll that counts is the last one."
If the season ended today, surprising South Florida (7-0), which before this season had never been ranked in the top 25, would be Ohio State's opponent in the title game.
The Buckeyes' rise from No. 3 in the polls to No. 1 in the polls and the BCS standings was made possible when the two top-ranked teams lost Saturday: Louisiana State to Kentucky and California to Oregon State. It was the first time in 11 years that teams ranked first and second lost on the same day. But the Buckeyes know that winning out won't be easy. Each of their remaining five opponents has a 5-2 record: Michigan State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Illinois and No. 24 Michigan.
That's a cumulative record of 25-10 (.714), compared with 23-25 (.479) for OSU's first seven opponents.
"It's going to be a little bit tougher," said guard Steve Rehring, adding that Tressel recently had shared that statistic with the team. "It shows that we've got a lot of good games left."
Boston College (7-0) is third in the BCS rankings, followed by LSU (6-1).
Oklahoma is fifth, despite losing to unranked Colorado just two weeks ago. It is an illustration of the zany year in college football in which each team in the preseason Associated Press top 10 has lost (Ohio State was No. 11).
The top five teams in the BCS each have one game left against a ranked opponent. Ohio State has Michigan, South Florida has No. 23 Cincinnati, Boston College has No. 11 Virginia Tech, LSU has No. 18 Auburn and Oklahoma has No. 22 Texas Tech. But LSU and Oklahoma also could advance to conference championship games against ranked opponents.
The Buckeyes, who are No. 1 in the polls in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1980, are aiming for their third appearance in the BCS title game in six years. They beat the University of Miami in 2003 and lost to Florida in January. In the nine-year history of the BCS, only two other teams have appeared in three title games: Florida State and Oklahoma.
kgordon@dispatch.com
Copyright © 2007, The Columbus Dispatch
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Heeere come the Bulls, and critics
By JOHN ROMANO, Times Columnist
Published October 15, 2007
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TAMPA - Today, they are seething in Baton Rouge.
They are incredulous in Los Angeles, and skeptical in Blacksburg, Va.
Today, the story that has won so many hearts in Tampa Bay is about to entertain scorn just about everywhere else in the college football world.
The University of South Florida is No. 2 in the initial BCS rankings of 2007, and I doubt the polls have ever seen a more preposterous tale than this.
You do not just stroll into Division I-A football, and walk to the head of the class. You do not set up shop in a trailer in a vacant field, and flirt with history 10 years later. And you most certainly do not cut in front of the zealots in Oklahoma.
Folks, it's about to get ugly. If you were offended when Nick Saban campaigned for village idiot a couple of weeks ago, if you were annoyed when Jimmy Johnson got critical on the air last week, prepare for an onslaught of backlash soon.
A few weeks ago, USF was hailed as the prime example for dreamers everywhere. Ah, but that was before anyone considered the Bulls a real threat. Now that they stand between some traditional power and the BCS title game, the Bulls will be ridiculed as everything that is wrong with college football.
There will be criticism of the computer rankings. There will be snide remarks about the coaches' poll. And, yes, there will be more jokes about USF's parking lots and SAT scores.
The Bulls need not take it personally. They need not lose sleep.
They need only win.
It is the one argument that has no rebuttal. Should the Bulls beat Rutgers on the road in a nationally televised game on Thursday, they will convert a few more doubters. If they take down Cincinnati and Louisville, their reputation will grow accordingly. And if they make it to 12-0, they can flip off Saban and every other naysayer.
There will always be critics. And, if we're being honest about it, they may even have some legitimate points.
It is true the Big East is not the most formidable league in the BCS. And it is true USF does not have a win against a Top 15 nonconference foe. It may even be true USF has had its share of breaks.
Yet, while all of that makes for a lively debate, the bottom line is the Bulls have done everything necessary to put themselves in this position. It's not their fault Auburn has lost some luster this season. And it's not their fault the Big East does not look as strong today as it did a month ago.
If you want to get technical, you could make some of the same arguments about Ohio State a year ago. The Big Ten was not overly robust in 2006, and Ohio State's best nonconference foe turned out to be less scary than expected.
The difference here is in pedigree. The Bulls have none. And that opens the door for every backwater snob to complain USF is a phantom team that has risen near the top on the backs of so many lightweights.
What those people do not realize is Matt Grothe has the heart of a champion. He may not fit the physical mold of a big-time college quarterback, but he plays with a fervor more valuable than any 40 time or height chart.
What those people do not see is the explosiveness of George Selvie. Recruited by almost no one as an offensive lineman in high school, Selvie has switched to defensive end and become the best pass rusher in the nation.
What those people do not understand is Jim Leavitt's passion. Almost anywhere you look, you can find a college football coach who leapt at the chance for a bigger payday and a higher profile. Not Leavitt. When Alabama came calling, he decided to stay at USF and finish what he literally started. Now he has the Alabama contract proposal in the drawer of his desk, and he has the college football world in the palm of his hand.
Of course, it is entirely possible all of this is moot. With so many high-ranking teams having fallen, it would seem likely USF will eventually stumble too.
The Bulls lost to Rutgers last season. They got manhandled by Cincinnati and trounced by Louisville. The idea that USF successfully maneuvers past all three in the next five weeks, with the pressure mounting daily, is iffy at best.
So why not enjoy where the Bulls sit today? Why not look at them as you would a Cinderella team crashing the Final Four at the NCAA basketball tournament? Why not appreciate what the Bulls have become, instead of pointing out what they have never been.
Today, USF is No. 2 in the polls.
And probably No. 1 in jealousy.
John Romano can be reached at romano@sptimes.com.
© 2007 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111
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'ROCK' PUTS CRIST IN HARD PLACE
[SOUTH PINELLAS Edition]
St. Petersburg Times - St. Petersburg, Fla.
Author: STEVE BOUSQUET
Date: Aug 29, 2007
Start Page: 1.A
Section: NATIONAL
Text Word Count: 1197
Document Text
The governor finds out what happens when his promises create high hopes in the constituency.
For months, Gov. Charlie Crist has utilized his knack for compressing complex issues into crisp sound bites to create high hopes that insurance rate relief was on the way and property taxes would "drop like a rock."
It sounded good.
But homeowners are tearing open their preliminary tax notices to find token relief, if any.
The first-year governor is now acknowledging he may have promised too much.
"Perhaps. Maybe all of us in this room did a little bit," he told a roomful of reporters Tuesday, but said he would "keep chipping away" at the issue. Crist also made clear he wasn't blaming the media for raising false hopes.
"I didn't mean to blame you for voicing my 'drop like a rock,' so please forgive me if that was the impression I gave," Crist said.
Some of Crist's constituents aren't ready to forgive him.
Julie Latimer of St. Petersburg complained in a recent letter to the editor that her insurance rates are unchanged and her tax break will be $53.
"After all the special sessions and the press these two issues got, I guess I was expecting to feel more 'relieved,'" wrote Latimer, 47, a graphic artist and registered Democrat.
Political observers who have marveled at Crist's political skills see him uncharacteristically facing a problem largely of his own making.
"It was a political mistake for him to raise expectations so high," said Darryl Paulson, a political science professor at the University of South Florida. "No politician should want to raise expectations so high that they run the risk of not being able to deliver."
Paulson said Crist's best course is to lower expectations, admit a mistake and "beg forgiveness" from his constituents.
That should not be difficult, given Crist's 70 percent job approval rating in the most recent poll. But he now faces the risk of breaking his campaign pledge that he would not let people down.
Crist said Tuesday that many Floridians can still get property tax relief by voting for a larger homestead exemption in a statewide vote Jan. 29. He said he will be "very engaged" in mobilizing support for the proposed constitutional amendment, but passage of the so-called "super-exemption" is far from assured.
The ever-quotable Crist, who stays "on message" better than most politicians, drove home the same tax-cutting message over and over.
"The people need relief," he said on March 22. "They need property tax relief that is significant, that will make a difference in their lives, and we'll do it this year."
On April 9, Crist told reporters: "They want their property taxes to drop, and we will deliver."
Two weeks ago, Crist sounded defiant when he was asked if he promised too much in the way of tax and insurance relief.
"I never promised anything. I'm not going to overpromise. I'm very careful about how I speak," Crist told the St. Petersburg Times editorial board on Aug. 17. "What I've done is promise this administration's best efforts to do everything we can to reduce the burden of property insurance and property taxes."
Crist wasn't the only politician promising relief, but no one else comes close to his level of prominence.
Others amplified the help-is-on-the-way theme, notably House Speaker Marco Rubio, who could not get the Senate to back his plan to swap higher sales taxes for greatly reduced property taxes.
"There was a lot that was promised and sadly has not been delivered," said Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey.
Fasano said the governor alone is not to blame. He said legislators were too willing to "retreat" in the face of demands by cities and counties that they be allowed to override state-mandated rollbacks in property tax rates.
"I think we're all to blame. I am," Fasano said. "The people have a right to be unhappy."
On a third issue, casino gambling, Crist is being accused of breaking a campaign promise - to oppose expanded gambling - by now negotiating a compact that would allow slot machines run by the Seminole tribe.
Florida Family Action, led by John Stemberger, a social conservative who did not support Crist's candidacy, is organizing an e-mail campaign to press Crist to abandon a deal with the tribe.
The group is circulating a copy of Crist's 2006 interview with Florida Baptist Witness in which he said: "We shouldn't expand gambling."
"There are not many things I dislike as much as gambling, but there is one, and that's increased taxes. And I'm not willing to do that," Crist said on Tuesday.
The first sign that Crist has hurt his standing with his constituents may surface in September in the next poll by Quinnipiac University, which tracks public approval of Crist's performance.
Known for a fondness for sports analogies, Crist compared himself to Tim Tebow, the sophomore quarterback for the Florida Gators who also faces a burden of high expectations.
"He said, 'I promise one thing, to do my best, to do my best effort,' and that's what I have a duty to do," Crist said. "That's always my promise."
Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com or (850) 224-7263.
Then: 'dropping like a rock'
May 4, the last day of the Florida Legislature.
"A few more weeks for property taxes dropping like a rock. It will happen before (next year's tax) bills go out; that's all that matters."
March 21, at a speech to Broward County civic leaders.
"Don't believe what you're seeing in some of the papers - not all of them - that the rates aren't going to go down as much as we would like. They are - I guarantee it - they're going to keep going down."
Now: 'galactically stupid'
Aug. 17, to the Times editorial board.
"I never promised anything. I'm not going to overpromise. I'm very careful about how I speak. What I've done is promise this administration's best efforts to do everything we can to reduce the burden of property insurance and property taxes. I can't say it will be a 30 percent reduction. I'd be a moron to say that. Why would I do that? That would be galactically stupid."
To hear Crist in his own words, go to politics.tampabay.com.
Then: against expanded gambling
Oct. 18, 2006, on campaign plane, flying from Orlando to Miami.
"You have a duty to negotiate with the Seminoles, in a compact. But I am not a proponent of expanding gambling."
Asked about a St. Petersburg Times story that day speculating about future slot machines: "I'm against it. The (budget) numbers work without it."
Now: let's be open-minded
Aug. 21, 2007, speaking to reporters after a mansion event
"There are some other opportunities we're looking forward to help us with the budget challenges we have today. We're negotiating with the tribe ... I want to be open-minded and I want us to be innovative."
To hear Crist in his own words, go to politics.tampabay.com.
Credit: Tallahassee Bureau Chief
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Abstract (Document Summary)
"I never promised anything. I'm not going to overpromise. I'm very careful about how I speak," [Charlie Crist] told the St. Petersburg Times editorial board on Aug. 17. "What I've done is promise this administration's best efforts to do everything we can to reduce the burden of property insurance and property taxes."
"He said, 'I promise one thing, to do my best, to do my best effort,' and that's what I have a duty to do," Crist said. "That's always my promise."
"I never promised anything. I'm not going to overpromise. I'm very careful about how I speak. What I've done is promise this administration's best efforts to do everything we can to reduce the burden of property insurance and property taxes. I can't say it will be a 30 percent reduction. I'd be a moron to say that. Why would I do that? That would be galactically stupid."
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
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Market Scan
Honeywell To Hold Hand Held Products
Melanie Lindner, 10.15.07, 1:45 PM ET
The shopping spree at Honeywell just keeps on going.
Early Monday Honeywell announced it will buy Hand Held Products from Welch Allyn Data Collection for $390 million. The acquisition of privately-owned Hand Held will be the fifth major purchase this year for the firm. Chief Executive Roger Fradin said at a CIBC World Markets conference on October 3 that the company has "several more acquisitions in the works" that should become public by the end of 2007.
Hand Held Products is a producer of communication and data collecting devices such as bar code readers, scanners and wireless mechanisms used to track inventory. The Skaneateles, N.Y.-based company has partnered with major technology firms such as Microsoft, Siemens and Cisco Systems. Hand Held Products, which sold approximately $285 million worth of goods in 2006, will join Honeywell's Security Group within the Automation and Control Solutions (ACS) business. ACS accounts for 36% of Honeywell's sales.
Fradin said of the acquisition: "Hand Held's growth potential and strong positions in key vertical markets complement ACS' existing wireless solutions."
While the deal is still subject to closing conditions including regulatory review, Hand Held's Chief Executive Kevin Jost expressed his excitement for the union. "Aligning with Honeywell--one of the world's leading technology companies--gives us an unprecedented ability to develop best-in-class solutions and deliver them to our customers," he said.
Honeywell's stock dropped 17 cents, or .3%, to $61.54 in Monday morning trading.
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At center of SCHIP fight, Florida toddler
She and her parents join Pelosi to tout kids' health care program.
By WES ALLISON, Times Staff Writer
Published October 18, 2007
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WASHINGTON -- Bethany Wilkerson, 2, has curly blond hair and a button nose and bright, blue eyes. On the morning she joined the speaker of the House for a news conference inside the U.S. Capitol, she wore navy pants with white polka dots and a matching blouse, a gift from a friend at a bowling alley, and toyed with a small stuffed rabbit called Pinky.
"Cameras!" she cooed from her mother's lap. And the cameras just ate her up Wednesday. But in politics these days, being cute isn't enough.
Bethany is the latest poster child for those who want Congress to overturn President Bush's veto of a children's health program for lower-middle income families. The vote in the House is scheduled for today, and Bethany and her parents, Dara and Bo, who live in St. Pete Beach, have spent much of the week on Capitol Hill, urging Republican lawmakers who opposed expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program to rebut the president and change their votes.
But the Wilkersons, who are not particularly political people, have had to weigh their desire to help what they consider a worthy cause against the risk of putting themselves, and their daughter, in the midst of a contentious national debate.
The previous poster child for the program, also called SCHIP, was 12-year-old Graeme Frost of Baltimore, whose family relied on the program after he and his sister received brain injuries in a car accident. After Graeme delivered the Democratic weekly radio address on Sept. 28, the Frost family was pilloried by conservative bloggers, columnists and radio show hosts as exactly the type of despicable folk who didn't deserve public help.
The Frosts lived in a quarter-million-dollar house, they said, with granite counterparts in the kitchen. Graeme attended a tony private school. Their father owned a business.
All those points had mitigating answers. The family bought the house for $55,000 back in 1990, when the neighborhood was sketchy. Graeme was on a scholarship. His father's business had gone out of business, and the family of six made a total of $45,000, well under the limit for the SCHIP program in Maryland.
Parents' fear
But it took a while for the full story to come out, and the Wilkersons feared the same treatment.
"It's very difficult to come forward and present your wallet to the world, basically," Dara Wilkerson, 37, said at the news conference with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., after being asked about the Frosts' experience. "We are lower-middle income. Not proud of that, we definitely strive to further ourself, you know, going back to school, new career, things like that. ...
"That was one of the things that we considered, media scrutiny, but the greater good is being able to ... carry the message that SCHIP is so important to America."
That indeed is how the Wilkersons view their role, but Washington rarely plays on one level. Congress passed the five-year, $35-billion bill to expand the children's insurance program with strong bipartisan support, in hopes of bringing the number of eligible children nationwide to some 10-million, about 4-million more than now. It enjoys strong bipartisan support, especially in the Senate. Bush vetoed it because he says the new version makes eligible too many families who don't need the benefit, at too big of a cost. He and others also worry that expanding eligibility will entice some Americans to drop their private insurance for the government's.
But there's more to it than that. The White House hopes to send the message that it will finally exert more fiscal control, while Democrats believe they've hit on a potent political issue.
It is, of course, tough to campaign against sick kids. Soon after she was born, Bethany's parents fretted about her breathing, and how her little heart beat against her breast. At 3 weeks old, doctors determined she had two holes in her heart, as well as an open duct. She had surgery to correct the defects at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg two days after Christmas in 2005. One hole remains open, and she may need more surgery later, but she is otherwise healthy.
"If we didn't have the SCHIP, she wouldn't have had the operation," her dad said. "We didn't have $100,000, plus whatever."
The Wilkersons say they make $34,000 a year. Bo Wilkerson works as a manager at Snapper's Grill on St. Pete Beach, which does not provide health insurance. He does maintenance at the restaurant part time, and is a bar-back at the Wharf. The bar used to pay him in drinks; then he quit drinking. Now he does it for Red Bull and $7 an hour, plus tips. The family has lived in a rented studio apartment on Pass-a-Grille for 11 years.
After the vote
Even if the veto is upheld, Bethany -- like most children on SCHIP -- is unlikely to lose her benefits. Funding for the program expires Nov. 16, and Congress is expected either to work with Bush to pass a toned-down version of what it sent the White House, or simply extend the current version.
But advocates say more children should be covered. "There's a million babies out there that don't have it, and they're next in line," said Bo Wilkerson, 44.
Since Monday, the Wilkersons have participated in a conference call with reporters and attended a "vigil" for children's health care with Pelosi outside the Capitol. The Campaign to Save Children's Health Care -- a coalition of US Action, labor unions, MoveOn.org and other groups -- is trying to raise enough money to run a TV ad featuring Bethany after today's vote. MoveOn sent its 3.3-million members a plea for $200,000 to air the ad.
After Wednesday's news conference in Pelosi's conference room, the Wilkersons visited Reps. C.W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores, who voted for the final SCHIP bill, and Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, who voted against it and who says he will vote to uphold the veto.
They also spent a half-hour with Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, who voted against the final SCHIP bill because, she said, it didn't do enough to make the program available to more children. It also included a cigar tax that cigarmakers in her district opposed. But she told the Wilkersons she plans to vote to override the veto today.
The Wilkersons also told Castor they were upset with at least one attack piece already, a column on the conservative National Review Online that called them irresponsible for having a baby without having health insurance. The column also suggested they had failed as parents by not finding better jobs.
"You know, just -- just ignore that stuff," Castor said. "You can't let it get to you."
"He called us bad parents," Bo Wilkerson said. "I wanted to smack him in his face. I'm not a bad daddy. I'm actually very excellent."
"Just ignore that," Castor said again.
"It just aggravates me ... for somebody who doesn't even know me."
"Don't let it get to you."
Wilkerson laughed. "Too late."
Wes Allison can be reached at allison@sptimes.com or (202) 463-0577.
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House Fails to Overturn Bush Veto on Children's Health Insurance
By Jonathan Weisman and Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, October 18, 2007; 2:57 PM
A furious campaign to persuade Republicans to change their votes on the $35 billion expansion of the government children's health insurance program fell 13 votes short today when the House failed to overturn President Bush's veto of the legislation.
Supporters of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) expansion packed House galleries, bringing in children and parents to apply last-minute pressure. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), meeting with Zeke Taylor, the March of Dimes' frail, smiling 7-year-old "ambassador," exhorted: "This is a banner issue for the Congress of the United States. . . . We want the members today to vote as if their children's lives depend on their votes."
But ultimately, the president's demand for a far more limited extension of the existing insurance program held sway with enough Republicans. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) charged that "SCHIP stands for Socialized, Clinton-style Hillarycare for illegals and their parents."
"Americans are tired of the rhetoric," said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio). "They're tired of the political games, and they want us to find a way to work together."
To override Bush's veto, the House needed two-thirds of those voting to support the bill. It attracted 273 votes, including 44 Republicans, and was opposed by 156, just two of them Democrats.
The unsuccessful veto override immediately triggered calls for the next round of negotiations to decide the fate of the 10-year-old children's health program. The vetoed bill would have expanded the $5 billion-a-year program by an average of $7 billion a year over the next five years, for total funding of $60 billion over the period. That would be enough to boost enrollment to 10 million, up from 6.6 million, and dramatically reduce the number of uninsured children in the country, currently about 9 million, supporters say.
Bush has indicated he is not willing to accept a bill that goes beyond his initial $5 billion expansion over five years. The president and GOP leaders say the vetoed measure would have pushed millions of children already covered by private health insurance into publicly financed health care. They say it would also create an "entitlement" whose costs would outstrip the money raised by the bill's 61-cent increase in the federal tobacco tax.
Having stood with Bush against a bill that had overwhelming public support, GOP leaders urged Democrats to come to the table with a scaled-down version. But Democratic leaders were leaning toward a new version that would give Republicans face-saving alterations but no substantive change.
Pelosi said she is determined to provide the resources to ensure that 10 million more children would be added to the rolls.
Democratic leaders suggested they could add legislative language to nullify Republican lines of attack. They would clarify that the program would not cover families with incomes over 300 percent of the federal poverty level, about $60,000 for a family of four. And they would tighten language to ensure that children of illegal immigrants could not receive benefits.
Republicans sent signals that the gambit just might work, if not with the president then with balking House members. Much of their protests on the bill focused on allegations that a loophole in the bill could allow 174,000 non-citizens to gain benefits.
Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) suggested adding an eligibility cap on families with at least $1 million of family assets, a move that would have virtually no impact on the bill's cost. Four moderate Republicans sent Pelosi a letter outlining what they thought could win passage, including a cap at 300 percent of the poverty level, a phasing out of eligibility for some adults and an expressed prohibition on illegal immigrants.
"The modifications needed are relatively modest," said Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.).
And that is likely all the GOP will get. Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, pointed out that House Democrats had given up plenty already, scaling back their far more ambitious bill to meet the demands of Senate Republicans, such as Orrin G. Hatch (Utah) and Charles E. Grassley (Iowa), who virtually dictated the final bill's parameters.
"We have gone 50 percent of the way," Rangel said. "You have no idea of the pain that [House Energy and Commerce] Chairman [John D.] Dingell, and I and Speaker Pelosi had when we were persuaded that it was either the bipartisan agreement of the Senate, or we wouldn't be able to get a bill on the floor. It was painful, and we lost votes, and we were charged with selling out."
Republicans will not relish the next round of the fight. Swing-district GOP lawmakers have already weathered a barrage of advertisements from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Democratic allies, accusing them of forsaking the nation's children while standing by the president's war in Iraq.
Following today's vote, the liberal activist group MoveOn.org launched another round of ads, featuring curly-haired, 2-year-old Bethany Wilkerson holding a scrawled sheet of paper that read "Don't veto me."
Boehner called the ad "despicable," but public opinion polls show 75 to 80 percent of the nation supported the vetoed bill.
© 2007 The Washington Post Company
