Saturday, June 30, 2012
Friday, June 29, 2012
Do Our Senators Work For Us?
The Big in Political Campaigns
Published: Wednesday 27 June 2012
“Candidates who raised 33 percent less money received 33 percent fewer votes, and lost.”
We know what the ballot looks like when we go to the polls. But what does a senator see?
To win elections, politicians need votes. To get those, they need to raise money – a lot of money. In the 2010 Senate elections, the average winning candidate received 1.8 million votes and raised $9.8 million. Candidates who raised 33 percent less money received 33 percent fewer votes, and lost.
If a candidate called up voters himself, he’d need to convince 144 people every hour to vote for him (on average over his six-year term). That means he could spare just 25 seconds talking to each voter. (And this assumes he never spends time governing; he’d actually have far less.)
Would a busy senator rather talk with 300 voters or one big donor? When it comes time to do his job, and pass legislation, whose interests will he represent?
The President's ACA, Blessing or Curse
Insurance Corporations Still Win!
Many believe that the SCOTUS ruling on the affordable Health Care Act is the greatest accomplishment for the public good since social security. I applaud President Obama's effort and tenacity in such a Herculean task, but I am not so convinced. I must admit that there are many good things contained in the law, but there are a few very troubling things also. Since the law was upheld by the court yesterday, the many good things have been talked about constantly on the various news programs, and I agree with all of them, so I won't comment on that part of the law. Instead I'll comment on the troublesome areas.
First and foremost is the fact that the corporations again got what they wanted. The individual mandate was upheld along with the rest of the bill. The court had to find a way to accomplish this. It was done by allowing the entire law stand and by chief justice John Roberts voting with the left leaning judges. Pundits claim that he did it to prevent any further damage to the legacy and relevancy of HIS court. That is no doubt true, but there is another reason, namely that the court is a corporate court and was put in place to make decisions on behalf of the corporations. Even though it seems on the surface that the public has won, there is big profit in this decision for the insurance companies.
Even before the AHCA law was first passed, the insurance companies went up on their rates by 25 or 30 percent in anticipation. And now that the SCOTUS has upheld the law (only yesterday), there are rumblings that the rates are going up again. And therein lies one of the main problems. The insurance companies need to be regulated! If there are no regulations (price controls), what is there to keep the rates from escalating OUT OF CONTROL as gasoline prices have done in the last several years? And since our economy is based on the cost of gasoline, when the cost of gasoline goes up so does everything else. Do we trust the insurance corporations to police themselves like we have the banking corporations, the oil corporations and pharmaceutical comprporations? If we do, we'll get the same thing from them that we have gotten from the rest; shoddy business practices, escalation of prices, and inferior service.
It has been said that the insurance copmanies will HAVE TO cover those with previous conditions. That is a very good thing, but what is to prevent them from having such exhorbitant deductibles that out of pocket expenses render the policy useless, like many policies do now? They have insurance just to be able to say they have it, but are unable to use it! The only thing that will have changed is that, like many other corporations, the insurance corporations will become a drain on the nation's economy. They will be draining needed money out of the federal treasury by padding their bills with bloated and bogus fees.
So, with the indivual mandate included in the insurance law, and without regulation and enforcement of those regulations, this health care law is, in my opinion a ticking time bomb. It will explode into the next big congressional fight, spilling over into the federal judiciary, which will continue to find imaginative ways to rule in favor corporations. Even now a federal court has ruled that Florida has a right to suppress voter participation although there is no evidence of so-called voter fraud. Corporatios contribute countless millions of dollars to many organizations in many states that bring voter supression lawsuits.
In the case of the AHCA, I sincerely hope that I am wrong. But if history is any guide, I'm afraid I'll be proven right. Remember, corporations have NEVER lost an argument before this SCOTUS!
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
The Sins of a Nation
I am not a prophet, but I will begin this article by using the words of a prophet; "Woe is me, I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell among a people of unclean lips". I want it known that I by no means do I consider myself to be seperate from the rest of America, but I already know that some will say that I'm unpatriotic because of what I'm about to write,but the truth is that I LOVE America more than those who would say that I don't must be said.
They love to wrap themselves in the flag and speak high sounding words but have never given a day in the service of their country. These are the same people who send young men and women to fight wars, and when they come back confused and deformed, vote to cut off their menatl and physical health care benefits. These are also the same people who seek to use a foreigner's desire to become an American, as a reason to coerce them into the armed services to fight. But if there were no war, they wouldn't want them in the US armed services. These are the people who want to suppress some voters right to vote. The reason is because these people don't think the way they think. So they don't want their input into the political process. These are the people who fight to give tax breaks to corporations who take jobs away from American citizens so that they can ship them overseas. They fight to give tax breaks to energy corporations who make record profits every year, but want to cut social programs that help better the lives of our citizens. They claim that we need all the money the country can spare to fight numerous wars at the same time, but will not spend a dime to repair the infrastructure of this great country so that we can continue to be the world's leading ecenomy. They would rather give tax breaks to agribusiness farms that doesn't need any help, rather than helping those family farms struggling to stay afloat. They refuse to even consider to allow taxes to be raised on the wealthiest among us when they have more than they can spend in their lifetimes and their children's lifetimes and even their children's children's lifetimes, down to the nth generation. But they are willing to cut the country's budget so that teachers, policemen and firemen will lose their livelihoods. These are the people who are responsible for the security of our society.
And now every citizen, every citizen, no matter what their circumstance, is about to be forced, by the highest in the land, to buy health insurance. This is a bill you will have to pay every month for the rest of your life! You can be sure of one thing if and when that happens; insurance rates will skyrocket and the service will become shoddy. In a society as wealthy as ours, health care should be a right. It is in every other industrialized nation in the world. But those who have gained control of this country refuse to help anyone but themselves. Does that sound like somebody who loves their country? Is there any equity (fairness) in our society
Most in America consider the extent of our wrongs in this country to be child endangerment issue, sexual immorality and homosexual lifestyles. They believe that the worst thing we have done wrong is to take God out of school and to remove the phrase "in God we trust" from American currency. The truth of the matter is these issues only scratch the surface of our country's illnesses. The problem is that "God has been removed from the HEARTS of those who claim to believe in Him". Jesus said "this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me". I had not thought to bash the religious right, but they are the ones in conservative circles who claim to know spiritual principles, to know the Lord Jesus and who use high and lofty religious language. I wonder if they ever read II Chronicles 7:14. They pray in public and evoke the name of the Lord with such fervor. But in the next breath they spit vinegar and poison with just as much vigor as they did fervor a minute ago. And when you look at what they ACTUALLY stand for instead what they SAY they stand for, you'll see a difference in their words and their actions. I've often heard, and believe that actions speak louder than words, so I'll let the reader be judge if what I'm saying is true.
The sins of our nation are about to overtake us, and it's our own fault. We have allowed the wrong people to gain control of our country, much like Germany did before WWII in allowing the Nazis to control their country. And just like America came over the horizon three quarters of a century ago, there is another country rising, and rising fast, even as I write. That country is China. And the powers that be would love nothing better than to see China become the dominant world power. Why? because that's where the money is to be made, cheap labor and expansion room! America has outlived it's usefulness to them. So now, we are about to go the way of all the rest of the great former civilizations of the past. The only question is how will we go down? Will we arrogantly challenge a country that has four times our population or will we go quietly. God has blessed America with prosperity, but like His chosen of the Bible, we have turned our backs on him. When we have repented and fairness is returnd to our government and our lives, then will God bless America again
They love to wrap themselves in the flag and speak high sounding words but have never given a day in the service of their country. These are the same people who send young men and women to fight wars, and when they come back confused and deformed, vote to cut off their menatl and physical health care benefits. These are also the same people who seek to use a foreigner's desire to become an American, as a reason to coerce them into the armed services to fight. But if there were no war, they wouldn't want them in the US armed services. These are the people who want to suppress some voters right to vote. The reason is because these people don't think the way they think. So they don't want their input into the political process. These are the people who fight to give tax breaks to corporations who take jobs away from American citizens so that they can ship them overseas. They fight to give tax breaks to energy corporations who make record profits every year, but want to cut social programs that help better the lives of our citizens. They claim that we need all the money the country can spare to fight numerous wars at the same time, but will not spend a dime to repair the infrastructure of this great country so that we can continue to be the world's leading ecenomy. They would rather give tax breaks to agribusiness farms that doesn't need any help, rather than helping those family farms struggling to stay afloat. They refuse to even consider to allow taxes to be raised on the wealthiest among us when they have more than they can spend in their lifetimes and their children's lifetimes and even their children's children's lifetimes, down to the nth generation. But they are willing to cut the country's budget so that teachers, policemen and firemen will lose their livelihoods. These are the people who are responsible for the security of our society.
And now every citizen, every citizen, no matter what their circumstance, is about to be forced, by the highest in the land, to buy health insurance. This is a bill you will have to pay every month for the rest of your life! You can be sure of one thing if and when that happens; insurance rates will skyrocket and the service will become shoddy. In a society as wealthy as ours, health care should be a right. It is in every other industrialized nation in the world. But those who have gained control of this country refuse to help anyone but themselves. Does that sound like somebody who loves their country? Is there any equity (fairness) in our society
Most in America consider the extent of our wrongs in this country to be child endangerment issue, sexual immorality and homosexual lifestyles. They believe that the worst thing we have done wrong is to take God out of school and to remove the phrase "in God we trust" from American currency. The truth of the matter is these issues only scratch the surface of our country's illnesses. The problem is that "God has been removed from the HEARTS of those who claim to believe in Him". Jesus said "this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me". I had not thought to bash the religious right, but they are the ones in conservative circles who claim to know spiritual principles, to know the Lord Jesus and who use high and lofty religious language. I wonder if they ever read II Chronicles 7:14. They pray in public and evoke the name of the Lord with such fervor. But in the next breath they spit vinegar and poison with just as much vigor as they did fervor a minute ago. And when you look at what they ACTUALLY stand for instead what they SAY they stand for, you'll see a difference in their words and their actions. I've often heard, and believe that actions speak louder than words, so I'll let the reader be judge if what I'm saying is true.
The sins of our nation are about to overtake us, and it's our own fault. We have allowed the wrong people to gain control of our country, much like Germany did before WWII in allowing the Nazis to control their country. And just like America came over the horizon three quarters of a century ago, there is another country rising, and rising fast, even as I write. That country is China. And the powers that be would love nothing better than to see China become the dominant world power. Why? because that's where the money is to be made, cheap labor and expansion room! America has outlived it's usefulness to them. So now, we are about to go the way of all the rest of the great former civilizations of the past. The only question is how will we go down? Will we arrogantly challenge a country that has four times our population or will we go quietly. God has blessed America with prosperity, but like His chosen of the Bible, we have turned our backs on him. When we have repented and fairness is returnd to our government and our lives, then will God bless America again
Monday, June 25, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Republican Descent Into the "Fast and Furious" Twilight Zone
The Republican descent into the "Fast and Furious" Twilight Zone continues. As early as today – Republican Darryl Issa's House Oversight Committee will vote on a measure to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for not turning over DOJ documents related to the "Fast and Furious" program. It was a program started by the Bush Administration, and centered on selling guns in Mexico and then tracking those guns up to high-level drug cartels. The program was abandoned after an American border patrol agent was killed in a shoot-out with suspected undocumented immigrants that were using "Fast and Furious" guns.
Despite testifying eight times in front of Congress and handing over thousands of documents, Attorney General Holder was unable to satisfy Congressman Issa's witch-hunt. And this morning – The White House asserted executive privilege over the remaining documents that Issa is demanding – a move that President George W. Bush employed six times, and President Clinton used 14 times. So much for trying to put Americans back to work: Republicans are more interested in embarrassing the White House – but really, they're only embarrassing themselves.
Despite testifying eight times in front of Congress and handing over thousands of documents, Attorney General Holder was unable to satisfy Congressman Issa's witch-hunt. And this morning – The White House asserted executive privilege over the remaining documents that Issa is demanding – a move that President George W. Bush employed six times, and President Clinton used 14 times. So much for trying to put Americans back to work: Republicans are more interested in embarrassing the White House – but really, they're only embarrassing themselves.
Wall St, Banks Call Center Jobs Shipped To Foreign Call Centers Overseas
The U.S. call center industry has lost 500,000 jobs over the last six years thanks to corporations like Bank of America, Well Fargo, and T-Mobile outsourcing Americans jobs to foreign countries where they can exploit low-wage workers. But on Tuesday, Republicans in the House had a chance to put an end to this giant sucking sound by passing the U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act, which would cut off federal loans and grants to corporations that outsource American call center jobs. Unfortunately for Americans workers, the bill failed as House Republicans lined up against it – voting it down, while most Democrats supported the bill.
The big four Wall Street banks have all moved their call centers to the Phillipines in the last few years, laying off hundreds of thousands of American workers who bailed out the banks to the tune of a couple hundred billion dollars back in 2008. Time to call your Member of Congress – especially if they're a Republican – and ask why they support stimulating the Filipino economy over the American economy.
The big four Wall Street banks have all moved their call centers to the Phillipines in the last few years, laying off hundreds of thousands of American workers who bailed out the banks to the tune of a couple hundred billion dollars back in 2008. Time to call your Member of Congress – especially if they're a Republican – and ask why they support stimulating the Filipino economy over the American economy.
Paul Ryan's Idea of Equity
Multi-millionaire Congressman Paul Ryan wants to raise YOUR taxes, while cutting his own. The Congressional Joint Economic Committee released a new report on the House's Paul Ryan budget – finding that while it gives huge tax cuts to the top 2% of Americans – it actually raises taxes on middle class families. Under the Ryan plan – which Republicans passed out of the House of Representatives nearly unanimously earlier this year – households earning more than a million dollars a year would see a tax cut of about $300,000 a year. But average income households like the middle class would actually see their taxes go up by several percent. The Ryan plan also reverses some of President Obama's tax cuts for working Americans who make less than $30,000 a year – basically raising their taxes, too. So when Republicans say they can't raise taxes on anyone – and even sign pledges to not raise taxes on anyone – they're lying. What they really mean is – they can't raise taxes on their Romney super-rich buddies who are funding their re-election campaigns.
Jamie Dimon Charms Republicans On Congressional Committee
Jamie Dimon's Easy Day Before The House Banking Committee
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Public Sector Jobs, The Big Difference Between Mitt and Obama!
If Mitt Becomes President, Public workers are screwed.
Mitt Romney has come out in staunch opposition to hiring more public workers, and other Republicans – from Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie – have demonized public workers as a drain on our economy. But who exactly are these Republicans talking about when they rail against so-called "public workers?" The answer is: teachers, cops, and firefighters. As the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities uncovered – the majority of public workers being targeted at the state and local level by Republicans aren't nameless bureaucrats pushing paper – but are actually men and women teaching our children science, patrolling our neighborhoods, and putting out our fires. Nine million teachers make up the largest share of public workers, with 2.4 million cops and firefighters coming in second, and 1.4 million nurses and health professionals coming in third. These are the people Republicans are cutting. As the White House reported – a quarter-million teachers have lost their jobs in the last three years thanks to budget cuts.
Altogether more than 600,000 public sectors workers have been laid off – mostly by Republican Governors – since President Obama took office. If those American still had a job – then the unemployment rate could be as much as a full point lower.
Mitt Romney has come out in staunch opposition to hiring more public workers, and other Republicans – from Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie – have demonized public workers as a drain on our economy. But who exactly are these Republicans talking about when they rail against so-called "public workers?" The answer is: teachers, cops, and firefighters. As the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities uncovered – the majority of public workers being targeted at the state and local level by Republicans aren't nameless bureaucrats pushing paper – but are actually men and women teaching our children science, patrolling our neighborhoods, and putting out our fires. Nine million teachers make up the largest share of public workers, with 2.4 million cops and firefighters coming in second, and 1.4 million nurses and health professionals coming in third. These are the people Republicans are cutting. As the White House reported – a quarter-million teachers have lost their jobs in the last three years thanks to budget cuts.
Altogether more than 600,000 public sectors workers have been laid off – mostly by Republican Governors – since President Obama took office. If those American still had a job – then the unemployment rate could be as much as a full point lower.
Greek Voting NOT Reported Correctly
Anti-austerity parties WON 52% of the vote in Sunday's elections – and the far-left SYRIZA Party has doubled its share of the vote since May, winning enough enthusiastic support that it can continue to push the new Greek coalition government – whatever it might look like –away from austerity and toward pro-growth policies. As SYRIZA Party leader Alexis TSipras said in a speech on Monday, "Some believe that [conservatives] won the elections. But, the people have won the elections because now they cannot proceed with bailout agreements and they recognize this, both in Greece and in Brussels." And he's right: leaders within the New Democracy Party are now calling for a renegotiation of the austerity and bailout terms with the EU and IMF – despite warnings from Germany that Greece can't do that. In particular, New Democracy officials are asking to spread the length of time from two years to four years over which Greece is supposed to cut 11.7 billion euros from their budget . A senior EU official told Reuters that the terms of the deal are "changeable." Austerity is losing its momentum in Europe – so how much longer until Mitt Romney and his Republican buddies get the message here?
Complex, Perplexing, FED
Europe's problems are weighing down the U.S. recovery, and there's renewed pressure on the Federal Reserve to do more to spark hiring after three months of poor results and signs of new stress in the weekly numbers for first-time unemployment claims.
Arguments from Fed governors "in favor of doing something are going to be delivered more forcefully than they were before," Kohn said, declining to predict what might be announced Wednesday at the end of a two-day Fed meeting.
Many Fed analysts, however, expect it to announce the extension of a $400 billion bond-buying program called Operation Twist, now set to expire this month.
Under Twist, the Fed has been selling short-term securities and buying longer-term ones with the intent of driving down the interest rate the government pays on its bonds of longer duration. That could lower borrowing costs for a start-up business, and for consumers when buying homes, cars or taking out other long-term loans.
Analysts are speculating that the Fed could sell short-term bonds and purchase bonds backed by pools of mortgages Wednesday, helping to stimulate the sluggish housing sector and make it easier for Americans to buy and sell homes.
For investors, it's one more sign of a confusing landscape.
"Like extreme sports, investing has become a death-defying undertaking," Ed Yardeni, a veteran Wall Street analyst, said in a note to investors Monday. "Don't you miss the good old days when investing was about investing?"
Arguments from Fed governors "in favor of doing something are going to be delivered more forcefully than they were before," Kohn said, declining to predict what might be announced Wednesday at the end of a two-day Fed meeting.
Many Fed analysts, however, expect it to announce the extension of a $400 billion bond-buying program called Operation Twist, now set to expire this month.
Under Twist, the Fed has been selling short-term securities and buying longer-term ones with the intent of driving down the interest rate the government pays on its bonds of longer duration. That could lower borrowing costs for a start-up business, and for consumers when buying homes, cars or taking out other long-term loans.
Analysts are speculating that the Fed could sell short-term bonds and purchase bonds backed by pools of mortgages Wednesday, helping to stimulate the sluggish housing sector and make it easier for Americans to buy and sell homes.
For investors, it's one more sign of a confusing landscape.
"Like extreme sports, investing has become a death-defying undertaking," Ed Yardeni, a veteran Wall Street analyst, said in a note to investors Monday. "Don't you miss the good old days when investing was about investing?"
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Friday, June 15, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Democrats Need To Let All Bush Tax Cuts Expire
Senator Jeff Merkley is telling his fellow Democrats in Congress not to budge on letting the Bush tax cuts expire at the end of the year for the wealthiest 2% of Americans. In an interview with TPM, Senator Merkley said, "I've encouraged my team to realize that we have lots of leverage on this. This is not a situation where you go to the table and you're desperate to get a deal." What Senator Merkley understands is that Democrats have the upper hand in the looming tax fight at the end of the year, if they just let all the Bush tax cuts expire on December 31st – and then immediately introduce legislation to extend the tax cuts just for the middle class and dare Republicans to vote against it. Realizing they may be cornered – millionaire lobbyist and anti-tax master Grover Norquist warned Republicans that if they let the Bush tax cuts expire – then he'll call it a violation of his no tax increases pledge. So at the end of the year – Republicans will have a choice. They can honor their oath to the Constitution – or honor their oath to lobbyist Grover Norquist.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012
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