thecornking said:

THis is disgusting, but is a good reminder of why we need oversight for people with access to data.


When I worked at a hospital I, and many others, had access to anyone's insurance, address, phone, social security number, birthdate and place, and various other data bits that had ever been to the hospital (the one hospital in the county).  This was pretty much everyone in the county, and included regional primary care offices.


I could look up the judge/mayor/ whoever easily and take out a credit card in their name.  Ridiculous- I didn't need that information EVER yet I had it. 


I agree with zappa this is bullshit, but it is riduclous you call people whining about the patriot act to be daft.

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Patriot act is unconsittutional in many parts and it is a pretty clear indicator of alot that's wrong with washington.

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This has nothing to do with the patriot act, and both are wrong.

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I agree w/ you john, this invasion of privacy is beyond the pale, and most likely done for political gain.

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I mean, finding out if the guy owes child support somewhere is just piling on. Uncovering that he is unlicensed and owes back taxes (btw, are those nuggets of info public knowledge?)

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went a long way to show that this guy's "dream" of just up and buying a $250k a year plumbing biz was just that, his "dream." It's smear tactics to bring up shit like this.

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To be able to dig up such dirt on an Average Joe citizen just shows that in the age of the internet, its hard to keep anything a secret. Hell, if Joe lived in WI anyone could have run a simple court search (for free) to find out if he owes back child support (or at least has been sued or taken to court over that.) Now, if the DNC is tapping his phones and reading his emails, then its time to collectively don the 

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I'm not sure what an alternative synonym would be for making patently false statements in an effort to breed fear in the populace to further your political goals.

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Madtowntripper said:

the Obama economic plan would certainly cut taxes dramatically in the vast majority of the population.

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Has not John Mccain been telling anyone who would listen that an Obama Presidency would raise their taxes?

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Madtowntripper said:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/06/09/ST2008060900950.html

True?  False?  Propaganda?

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Cute little drawing.  I like how they said the bottom 3 groups are 60% of Americans.  But the nasty bit about that 60% is that they pay dick in taxes, something on the order of <5% of all income tax paid.  A whole pile of those people don't pay any income tax at all.  This all goes back to that great quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1046973/posts

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    "A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship."



That is what the 60% have done and will do more of.  Great, just great.  A once proud nation dragged down by panhandlers with a ballot.

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Madtowntripper said:

Because it doesn't fit into your worldview?

I'm not sure what an alternative synonym would be for making patently false statements in an effort to breed fear in the populace to further your political goals.

"Fear Mongering" seems to sum it up pretty well.

A staple of Republican politics of the last ten years.

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A state agency has revealed that its checks of computer systems for potential information on "Joe the Plumber" were more extensive than it first acknowledged.

Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, disclosed today that computer inquiries on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher were not restricted to a child-support system.

The agency also checked Wurzelbacher in its computer systems to determine whether he was receiving welfare assistance or owed unemployment compensation taxes, she wrote.

Jones-Kelley made the revelations in a letter to Ohio Senate President Bill M. Harris, R-Ashland, who demanded answers on why state officials checked out Wurzelbacher.

Harris called the multiple records checks "questionable" and said he awaits more answers. "It's kind of like Big Brother is looking in your pocket," he said.

If state employees run checks on every person listed in newspaper stories as buying a business, "it must take a lot of people a lot of time to run these checks," he said. "Where do you draw the line?"

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The reason Niekamp said she was given for checking if there was a child-support case on Wurzelbacher does not match the reason given by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Director Helen Jones-Kelley said her agency checks people who are "thrust into the public spotlight," amid suggestions they may have come into money, to see if they owe support or are receiving undeserved public assistance.

Niekamp told The Dispatch she is unfamiliar with the practice of checking on the newly famous. "I've never done that before, I don't know of anybody in my office who does that and I don't remember anyone ever doing that," she said today.

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Vanessa Niekamp said that when she was asked to run a child-support check on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher on Oct. 16, she thought it routine. A supervisor told her the man had contacted the state agency about his case.

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Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and former head of that department in Montgomery County, has been placed on paid administrative leave by Gov. Ted Strickland.

    Strickland said on Friday, Nov. 7, that he took the action “due to the possibility, as yet unconfirmed, that a state computer or state e-mail account was used to assist in political fund raising.”

    “I have asked Inspector General Tom Charles to include this matter in his current, ongoing investigation,” Strickland said in a press release.

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