Daily Archives: 10/26/2009

(Community Matters) Juan, Teresa and Michael returned to DC late morning – from visiting their daughter Vicki at Harvard for parents’ weekend. Visited with them, then with Kirk Rudy to lunch, a tour of area around the mall, and the national portrait gallery.

With National Finance Committee members to Mt. Vernon – wow. Quite moving. George Washington had quite a spread. He started out with 2,000 acres, expanded to 8,000 – though not so terribly big in those times, his neighbors, the Fairfaxs, had a 1 million English King land grant.

Hung with our Austin group (Kirk, Alexa Wesner, Glen & Linda Neeland), Guy Selden, Adrienne Donato, Andy Tobias, Peter Reinhardt, Tony Martinez and Paul Horning.

(Community Matters) An HHS official is telling me the swine flu is a very serious threat, especially to 18 – 23 year olds. You MUST get a vaccine, and if you develop flu symptoms please go immediately to the doctor. This flu shuts down the body functions and young people are dieing. Universities are setting up quarantine dorms. Some schools likely not to reopen immediately after holidays.

(Community Matters) Real Clear Politics – poll of pollls showing growing discontent among independents against existing politics.

“Independents have flipped negative,” warns Bevan. “That’s not a good thing for any party.”

“What do these phenomena have in common? In two words: disillusionment and disgust,” says Lara Brown, Villanova University political science professor.

Voters wonder what happened to candidates they elected to clean up Washington, stop partisan bickering and remove Wall Street titans who retained fat bonuses only because taxpayers bailed out their companies.

A CNN poll last week suggests most no longer agree with Obama “on the issues that matter most to them.”

Other polls suggest Americans feel Republicans are merely “obstructionists.”