I am addicted to intelligence, points of view, listening skills, and respect.

Try these on for size, and remember, they are from many points of view. Let's get educated.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg --If you look at the U.S., you look at who we're electing to Congress, to the Senate--they can't read," he said. "I'll bet you a bunch of these people don't have passports." "I think in America, we've got to stop blaming the Chinese and blaming everybody else and take a look at ourselves," he said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates -- Congress should act quickly, before new members take their seats, to repeal the military's ban on gays serving openly in the military.

Senate Minority Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has attempted to lower expectations in recent days by saying that Republicans can't really accomplish anything unless President Obama is voted out of office in 2012.

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) set the stage on Sunday by declaring that any lack of progress in Congress -- including a possible government shutdown -- will be Obama's fault.

THIS ONE IS ESPECIALLY SCARY -- ANOTHER WAR ANYBODY?

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who sits on the Armed Services Committee and the Homeland Security Committee, said Saturday the U.S. should consider sinking the Iranian navy, destroying its air force and delivering a decisive blow to the Revolutionary Guard. A leading U.S. senator on defense issues says any military strike on Iran to stop its nuclear program must also strive to take out Iran's military capability.

He says they should neuter the regime, destroy its ability to fight back and hope Iranians will take a chance to take back their government.

YOU GO TEXAS !

Some Texas Republican lawmakers — still reveling in Tuesday’s statewide election sweep — are proposing an unprecedented solution to the state’s estimated $25 billion budget shortfall: dropping out of the federal Medicaid program.

Peggy Noonan (love and agree with her) Former Speech Writer for Reagan taking a jab at the Vacuous (yes, that is editorial) Sarah Palin "The point is not 'He was a great man and you are a nincompoop,' though that is true," Noonan continues. "The point is that Reagan's career is a guide, not only for the tea party but for all in politics. He brought his fully mature, fully seasoned self into politics with him. He wasn't in search of a life when he ran for office, and he wasn't in search of fame; he'd already lived a life, he was already well known, he'd accomplished things in the world."

Though Noonan's piece is not simply a jab at Palin, but rather a larger message about the real political significance of one's actions and accomplishments, as well as the necessity to "earn your way into politics," it's also worth noting that Noonan has never shied away from writing confrontational columns about the former Alaska Governor.

ON BANANA REPUBLICS IN THE U.S., INCOME INEQUITY AND TAX CUTS... C.E.O.’s of the largest American companies earned an average of 42 times as much as the average worker in 1980, but 531 times as much in 2001. Perhaps the most astounding statistic is this: From 1980 to 2005, more than four-fifths of the total increase in American incomes went to the richest 1 percent.

That’s the backdrop for one of the first big postelection fights in Washington — how far to extend the Bush tax cuts to the most affluent 2 percent of Americans. Both parties agree on extending tax cuts on the first $250,000 of incomes, even for billionaires. Republicans would also cut taxes above that.

The richest 0.1 percent of taxpayers would get a tax cut of $61,000 from President Obama. They would get $370,000 from Republicans, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. And that provides only a modest economic stimulus, because the rich are less likely to spend their tax savings.

At a time of 9.6 percent unemployment, wouldn’t it make more sense to finance a jobs program? For example, the money could be used to avoid laying off teachers and undermining American schools. So we face a choice. Is our economic priority the jobless, or is it zillionaires?

And if Republicans are worried about long-term budget deficits, a reasonable concern, why are they insistent on two steps that nonpartisan economists say would worsen the deficits by more than $800 billion over a decade — cutting taxes for the most opulent, and repealing health care reform? What other programs would they cut to make up the lost $800 billion in revenue?

GOP climate deniers vie to run House Energy Committee -- enough said. - Reps. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), John Shimkus (R-Ill.), Joe Barton (R-Texas), and Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) -- all want to reopen the floodgates for a deregulated fossil fuel industry.