Like the horseless carriage 100 years ago, Internet voting is coming to the USA. Not only is it convenient and green, but security has been proven manageable by e-commerce.

An Internet voting system, rightly organized, can even neutralize the power of Big Money in all US elections. Democracy in the US can be enhanced immensely.  But how would that work?

Firms in the private sector have added positions steadily since the spring of 2010, after painful shrinkage in 2008 and 2009.

The numbers, in thousands (000) and seasonally adjusted, are issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and they show a persistent drag on the economy from lowering headcounts for teachers and public sector union employees.

These are decisions by statehouses and our elected officials.

At the candidates presidential debate (MSNBC - Politico), the Republican contenders will vie to reclaim the mantle of the Ronald Reagan legacy. Here it is, in a surprise image:

It should be framed in gilt. The decade of the 80s begat the RR tax-cut and job-export policies (the notorious "twin deficits" of trade and federal budgeting) that flipped the US abruptly to net debtor nation status.

This was the natural outcome of "less is more" tax optimism ideology.

The roaring 80s was the first modern time when the country wasn't at war that the U.S. turned to finance the economy by giving foreigners ownership of more assets of ours than we had a stake in theirs.

As a result of the FTC ruling, consumers now how the right to choose their own funeral goods and services regardless of the local funeral home they choose. This ruling means that when consumers buy their caskets online the consumer is protected so that the rest of the funeral service prices don't get padded or increased. Funeral homes are required by law to supply everyone with an itemized price list upon request. Once they have the price list in hand, then it is safe to purchase their Solid Wood Caskets online and have it delivered to "any" funeral home nationwide.

Horse Racing is a sport that has been around for centuries and has a very rich history of tradition and culture. One of the factors that have made it this way is the race tracks themselves and what they bring to the sport. I just find them very interesting and powerful animals I believe. I don't even know how to ride one but I feel so delighted every time I see horses everywhere. If you're looking for a good place to place bets on horse racing then Racebook.com is the way to go.

Yes, once again we hear the clamoring from the media that Al Gore is only allowing them five minutes in the room with him before giving his presentation on Aruba going green this next week...

Most budget cassandras have Social Security right in their sights. Wyoming Republican Alan Simpson, the co-chair of the president's Deficit-reduction commission, has compared it to a "milk cow" in a vulgar broadside against the program. Each SS retiree, meanwhile, is pulling in a yearly average benefit of $13,900 — after having socked away a chunk or his or her paycheck into the fund continually through the working years.

Congress and the electorate can face up to a funding choice.

The SS fund has two sources of income: 1) the payroll tax and 2) interest income it receives every year on Treasury bonds it acquired when it had lent billions of dollars to the Treasury from surpluses it accumulated. Actuaries figure the fund's outflow will start to exceed its total yearly income around 2025. Over a 75-period, with no adjustments, the shortfall would amount to 0.7% of gross domestic product.

So to redress the shortfall during the 75-year actuarial period would require a dollar amount that's about 0.7% of GDP for the period.

We should've been so lucky as to have genuine single-payer, universal healthcare here like the dangerous and frightening socialists abroad.

We would've been ecstatic to welcome ALL of our soldiers back from desert wastelands to our beloved fields of grain and purple mountains majesty.

We could've sighed with relief as those who built the catalyst for financial collapse were brought swiftly and brutally to justice.

But reality got in our way.

In particular, we met a pipsqueak, congressional minority eager to abuse the power of filibuster, a belligerent foe willing to fill the void of a U.S.-less Iraq, a resurgent Taliban, and an economy that would cease to exist without a functioning banking system.

With all that, with all the obstacles, with all the critics (from both sides of the aisle), Obama was still able to fulfill the key promises of his campaign.

Below, I've compiled what I believe to be the presidents most important promises fulfilled.

Top 9 Obama Promises Kept (So Far)

1) Funded Stem Cell Research

Cell therapy is the medicine of the next century. It's the approach that has the potential to be the most game-changing medical advance since the introduction of antibiotics. George W. Bush's halt to federally funded stem-cell research, delaying progress for nearly a decade, was a crime against humanity. If there is any issue upon which Obama has restored hope, it is here, and we should all be eternally grateful.

Numbers two through eight are after the jump.

A ballyhooed gulf in excitement and commitment for D's & R's is not showing up like you'd expect in the closely watched battleground of Nevada. At least not at summer's end, heading to the home stretch. The National Review reports that Nevada's new voter registrations for the month of August leaned more heavily Democratic and independent than Republican. The August figures:  Democrats 2617, Republican 2037, non-partisan independent 2,249.  It's only one month, but gives no sign of fatigue in Democrats. The deadline to register in Nevada, by the way, is Saturday October 2.

The 2 parties have been trading leads a few times on the generic ballot question ("vote for a Democrat, or a Republican for Congress?") since the late spring, creating suspense and anxiety about the nationwide political landscape.

Recent polls don't settle it.  Politico/GW poll: tied (43-43, likely voters); and

Dems show a 1-point lead in the (pdf) PPP survey: D +1 >> PPP: "Democrats have retaken a 45-44 lead in the national generic Congressional ballot, after being down 42-45 in August."

"(The current) Democrats in Congress also still are better liked than their Republican counterparts by 19 points." Even so, the respondents said they believe the GOP will win the House despite their expressed voter preferences. Maybe they've heard the prediction broadcast in their ear.  From other surveys: CBS/NYT gives the GOP a 2-point edge. Gallup and AP give Republicans a bigger margin.

The most interesting poll is the one you've never heard of, by the Barna Group, an evangelical polling outfit (Ventura, Calif).

The Myth of the Free Market
by Craig Barnes

Millions of Americans are today unemployed because the free market is not working for them. Millions of Americans have lost their homes because the free market did not work for them or for the banks.  Before the health care bill passed last January millions could not get health care because the free market worked for them when they were healthy but often did not work at all when they needed care.

"Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress...but then, I repeat myself."~~Mark Twain

Two of the world's richest men and the Spanish government have pledged $150m (£101.7m) to battle disease and improve health in Central America and Mexico. Carlos Slim and Bill Gates are to fund a project jointly with Spain aimed at improving nutrition and maternal health and fighting dengue fever and malaria. The two men and Spain's Princess Cristina announced the project in the Mexican capital, Mexico City. The project also aims to reduce infant mortality and boost vaccination rates.

"Going to church no more makes you a Christian than sleeping in your garage makes you a car."~~Garrison Keiler

Change is the process by which the future invades our lives~~Alvin Toffler, "Future Shock"

Each time it appears that Republicans can't get any nastier, any more bereft of morality, they wrap themselves in the flag, grab their guns and Bibles, and manage once again to hit the bottom of the ethical barrel. A good example is Ben Smith's recent startling revelation in Politico.com, which exposed the dirty tricks Republican National Committee (RNC) operatives were planning to play, not only on Democrats in the upcoming elections -- but on their own donors. Smith writes...