NY governor: Caroline Kennedy wants Senate seat

Caroline Kennedy told New York's governor on Monday that she's interested in the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton, making her the highest-profile candidate to express a desire for the job. Democratic Gov. David Paterson will choose the replacement. "She told me she was interested in the position," Paterson said. "It's not a campaign. She'd like at some point to sit down."

Caroline Kennedy's spokesman, Stefan Friedman, declined to comment.

Clinton is expected to be confirmed as President-elect Barack Obama's secretary of state.

At an afternoon news conference to discuss last week's paralyzing ice storm, New York's senior senator, Charles Schumer, said he has also talked to Caroline Kennedy about the job.

"And she's clearly interested," he said.

Over the past week, Kennedy, who lives in Manhattan, has reached out to several prominent New York Democrats to tell them of her interest in the Senate seat. They included Joel Klein, chancellor of the New York City Department of Education. Kennedy worked closely with Klein as executive of the Office of Strategic Partnerships for the New York City Department of Education, where she raised about $65 million for the city's schools.

"I think she's thought about it a long time," Klein said of a conversation he had with Kennedy on Monday. He said the campaigning she did for Obama this year helped acquaint her with the gritty rituals of retail politics.

"She's a highly determined woman and she's clearly been thinking about her life and how to make an effective contribution," Klein said. "Everyone knows Caroline, and everyone has a great historical respect for the Kennedy family."

Other Democrats who appear to be on Paterson's short list include New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who won't say publicly whether he's interested.

One of the early front-runners, Rep. Nydia Velazquez of Brooklyn, took herself out of the running Friday.

Paterson will appoint someone to fill Clinton's seat for two years if she is confirmed as secretary of state.

Republicans wasted no time in criticizing Kennedy as unqualified for the job and unfamiliar with the state.

"If anything, it makes me more determined to run," said Rep. Peter King, a Long Island Republican who has already expressed his interest in the seat.

"As far as record of achievement, I strongly believe that I'm much more qualified, much more experienced, and have an independent record," King said. "Nothing against Caroline Kennedy, but I don't think anyone has a right to a seat."

Yahoo

I don't know why we allow governors to appoint senators. An outgoing senator should be replaced by way of a special election, among a field of candidates. The candidate with the most votes wins. This seems to be the fair solution to me. It allows the people's voice to be heard. I think it might even eliminate some fraud, in light of the Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich scandal.

What are your thoughts on this? Please leave them in the comments.

Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State

President-elect Barack Obama plans to name Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) as his secretary of state shortly after Thanksgiving, two senior Obama aides said.

The officials said they expect her to accept. Clinton aides had no comment.

The choice unites the two rivals in the most protracted presidential primary in American history, giving Obama the "Team of Rivals" Cabinet he had promised.

Former President Bill Clinton authorized unprecedented disclosures about his finances to Obama's vetting team, and transition lawyers are satisfied, officials said.

Politico

Obama's really taking a gamble here. I hope it's the right decision.

Hillary might reject State offer

I'm glad. I don't think Secretary of State is the job for her. A position in the Health and Human services might be more suited to her talents. Hillary's been fighting for National Health Care for about 17 years now, this could be her chance to finally achieve that goal. Though, it's highly unlikely we'll ever see Nationalized health care in this country, there is some sort of reform needed. Maybe with her help it'll finally get done.

As for Secretary of State, Bill Richardson is currently being eyed for the position. I don't know too much about Richardson, but if he's qualified for the job, I'd be fine with him filling the position.

Congress

America doesn't overly approve of the job Congress is doing in Washington. Currently their approval rating is 17.3% - while Bush's approval rating is 30%. And regardless of their approval ratings or productivity, they still get a paycheck. Something is wrong here, don't you think?

Well, I've proposed an idea that might help congress become more productive. What we ought to do is is pay them minimum wage until they work on a plan to reduce the deficit. Cut off all lobbyist money from these assholes. Make them do their job and fire them all if necessary.

I think that might put fire under their asses. Let them feel how it's like to work for minimum wage. Show them what it's like to really work for someone, and don't let them forget that they work for us.

If that's too radical for ya, then how about this:

Currently,

Congressmen & Senators earn $165,200
Majority & Minority Leaders earn $180,100
Speaker of the House earns $208,100

In my opinion, that is more than what they're worth. I'd cut all their salaries in half, thus:

Congressmen & Senators would earn $82,600
Majority & Minority Leaders would earn $90,050
Speaker of the House would earn $104,050

Maybe that will motivate them a little bit and remind them that they work for the citizens of the USA.

And once they balance the budget and help kill the deficit, I still wouldn't let them off easy. I'd make their approval rating determine their salary. Fuck 'em. I think that would encourage them to work together and get things done, wouldn't you say?

America's Official Language?

I don't know about you, but I am tired of pressing 1 or 2 for English. Why are we catering to these immigrants? If they want to live here, they need to learn the language, or they need to get the fuck out. If I were President, I'd try to make it so that if they want to be an American citizen, they'd have to learn the language. If they do not learn English – the Official Language of this country, then they need to go back to their homeland. Case closed. My ancestors had to learn English, so why the fuck shouldn't these assholes? Also, I am tired of reading food labels and manuals, and stuff with other languages on it. These are American products. The only language that should be on there is ENGLISH. We are an English speaking nation. If the President speaks the language, then that is the official language of the country. Case fucking closed!

And I am appalled that the assholes in our useless congress have yet to pass a bill signifying English as America's official language. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton being two of the members of congress that voted against it. What they did was anti-American. This country seems to care more about these illegal immigrants than they do about their own citizens. These immigrants have more fucking rights than us. I am tired of it. I say we close the border. If you're out of the country, stay the fuck out, and if you're here and legal, you stay here, but if you're not, you're thrown the fuck out. One way to stop this illegal immigration is to shoot these illegal fucks on sight. I bet you this would slow down the crossing of the border. In fact, I'm sure these fucks would be running the other way.