What Have You Done For Me Lately?

I think we can all agree that Congress is woefully broken.  Especially the 112th Congress with its Tea Party heavy faction.  This is the true definition of the "Do Nothing Congress." As of November 27, 2012, the 112th Congress has passed a total of 200 pieces of legislation.  That's a lot less than the original "Do Nothing Congress" as named by Harry Truman.  That was the 80th Congress who passed over 900 pieces of legislation.  

The fun part--and by fun, I mean pathetic and sad, is the breakdown of those paltry 200 pieces of legislation by the 112th.  Of the 200 bills passed into law that the House and Senate both agreed on included the following:

• 30 bills renamed Post Offices
• 11 bills renamed Federal Courthouses, buildings and property
• 3 reappointed regents to the Smithsonian Institute
• 3 bestowed Congressional gold medals on deserving citizens
• 4 authorized commemorative coins to be created

Eighty pieces of legislation that passed were amendments or extensions of current laws.  That means that the 112th Congress passed 69 pieces of unique, meaningful legislation.  You must take the word "meaningful" with a grain of salt, as those 69 pieces of legislation include "important" issues such as the Billfish Conservancy Act (no offense to Marlin lovers), erecting a statue of Frederick Douglas in the Library of Congress, and a bill that allows Astronauts to keep their NASA souvenirs from space missions.  They also include an act to bring the America's Cup Race to the US, a bill to erect a monument on federal land honoring Fort Pulaski, and the Box Elder Utah Land Conveyance.  In fact--several pieces of legislation passed were land conveyances.  

I certainly don't mean to slight Billfish lovers, I believe in conservation programs. I think Statues and monuments to honor important historical figures and designate historical places are important.  However, we're in a lot of trouble if this is all our Congress can come together on--and it makes me very, very angry.  I'm angry that this was the best they could do for us.  I'm angry that they were unable to reach consensus on so few pieces of legislation while the country crumbles at their feet.  They seem to look at the devastation around them and still the best they can say is, "I disagree."

This is the Congress that was so absorbed by their political agenda of making President Obama a one term President that they threatened so convincingly to refuse to raise the debt ceiling, the nation's credit rating was lowered.  Good job, Congress.  The Republicans in this Congress held hostage the lives of America's unemployed (about 8% of us at the time), by refusing to extend their unemployment benefits unless the super rich got their tax cuts extended.  These people are supposed to be working for all of us--not just 2% of the population.  I'm sick of my government being hi-jacked and held hostage over benefits for the 2% who are doing just fine while the rest of us are struggling to just get by.  It isn't supposed to be like this.  

I've been doing some thinking now that sequestration cuts are looming over the nation's head.  There is talk that Congress will let the country go over the "fiscal cliff" because it saves face for Republicans who signed Grover Norquist's tax pledge.  Most economists agree that if the cuts go into effect, we will enter another recession.  If sequestration cuts happen, almost everyone in the country will be negatively affected--except for one tiny fraction--the members of Congress.  And they're going to take us there and throw us over the edge for political reasons.  It seems we have a serious problem.

The problem is that Congress is punishing the wrong people when they can't (or won't) get the job done.  The sequestration slashes domestic spending indiscriminately.  That punishes a lot of Americans who depend on federal funding for programs, services, public safety, education...the list goes on and on.  Congress is punishing us for their inability and unwillingness to do their jobs.  They put party above country and we suffer for it.  I propose that we enact some legislation of our own to fix that and punish the real culprits.  Congress deserves to feel some of the pain.  We need to create an independent office of Congressional oversight made up or ordinary citizens who have the power to impose sanctions on Congress when they fail to do the people's business in a timely fashion or refuse to act for political gain. I also propose the following measures:

1. If Congress cannot pass a budget, we enact the rule my mother used for cleaning my room:  Don't come out until it's done.  I propose that members of Congress are only allowed to leave the floor of the House and Senate to use the bathroom and they have 15 minutes for that.  No going home for the night and reconvening the next day.  Sorry--stay there until you get the people's business done.

2.  In situations where people on Social Security, our Troops, federal employees, etc. are threatened with having their paychecks or unemployment benefits cut off, I propose that Congress is included.  In fact, I propose they be at the top of that list.  If citizens are threatened with losing their incomes, then Congress should face that devastating threat first.  We don't get money--neither do they.  

3.  I propose that Congress participate in a training program that educates them on what it's like to live in this country for real Americans.  Most members of Congress have no concept of what it's like to work for minimum wage, or to live on food stamps and try to get by.  They should know what this is like.  I propose that from the time they are elected, until the time they are sworn in, they have to live on minimum wage earnings and food stamps.  It will help with their budget making skills.  No one on Earth can budget better than someone on a minimum wage income.  

Implementing real, personal consequences for their actions might snap Congress into action and force them to do the job they were elected and are paid quite well to do. These people are expected to lead our Nation and I've never seen a group of individuals less qualified to do so than the 112th Congress.  

It's Time for Religion to Go Back Into the Closet

I've had it up to my eyeballs with the religious right.  They're ruining my country, ruining the American way of life and causing a lot of suffering.  Religious leaders are the consummate definition of hypocrisy, and I've had enough.  I will not rest until the line that separates church and state is long, wide and very, very vivid.  Religious leaders and their blind, devout followers have become the antithesis of what faith is supposed to be.  It's time to get this poison out of our government.

First, you should know that I was raised in the Christian church.  I have studied the bible.  I respect it as a piece of historical literature.  I reject it as a code to live by for the most part, yet there are some parts I embrace-- I do believe that Jesus Christ was a guy who didn't really have any bad ideas; love thy neighbor as thy self, take care of the sick, the poor, widows and orphans and foreigners.  Not a bad code to live by, however the parts where people are killed for wearing two different fabrics, women are sold into slavery and the rest of the insanity makes it impossible for me to accept the book as divine mandate.  Not to mention that science has debunked much of it, so I do not accept it as absolute truth.  It simply is not.  Still, the way Jesus taught us to live is not a bad concept.  He was a good man.

It's a shame that a bunch of guys got together centuries ago and decided that they could profit off of his teachings, and that their way was the right one and anyone who didn't go along would be damned--and then killed into the bargain.  And so it was with the crusades, so it was throughout history, and so it continues today.  

Modern Christians just don't get that this country was not founded on Jesus Christ--it was founded on the principle of religious freedom...the right to worship any god one so chooses.  Buddah, Vishnu, Ra, Allah, or Jesus.  Pick a god, worship whom you will.  You're free to do that.  Matters of faith should be a personal thing.  Jesus did say to pray in your closet and not out in the street.  

Religion should never be used as a cudgel to beat your fellow man over the head with, until he is bloodied into submission and forced to see things your way.  Faith doesn't work like that.  It never has and it never will.  Religion has no right to impose its will and its system of values and edicts on those of us who do not embrace it or embrace a different set of values from a different god. 

Yet today's Christian right beats all of us over the head with their bibles and religious system of belief in the form of restrictive legislation.  Their god says it is so, and so it must be for all of us. NO, NO, a thousand times NO.  Their god is not my god.  Their system of belief, and their book of rules do not apply to me.  I do not believe as they believe and my right to abstain from their moral code is bestowed upon me by the Constitution.  I don't have to follow along.

The great men who formed this nation warned us about the dangers of the state meddling in the matters of church.  It also warned us of the dangers of the church meddling in the affairs of governance.  The religious right is not listening and seeks actively to impose their bible on us all.  I will fight them to the death for my right to worship any other god or no god at all rather than bow down to the lord they wish to impose upon me.  I would rather die a free human being than to be bound by their religious ignorance that steals the rights of my fellow human beings and forces them to adhere to their antiquated sense of morality.

I have a message for all of the ultra-right-wing-conservative-Christians:  You're just as bad as the Muslims that you vilify.  How dare you stand there with your pseudo-righteous indignation ranting at a group of different religious zealots when they are so much like yourselves?  It is wrong and deplorable to fly a plane into a building and kill innocent people.  It is equally wrong to stand in front of a health center and murder one man in cold blood because he dares to offer a Constitutionally protected service to women.  And before you say that the death of 3,000 human beings is far worse than the murder of one...it is your bible that says all sin is equal in the sight of god.  And these things are not wrong because god says so--it is wrong because it breaks the rules of a civilized society with laws that say it is so.  

It is equally wrong for a group of "god fearing" men to attempt to legislate women's health services.  Sorry, men...you will never know what it is like to be a woman.  You will never, ever know what it is to be one of us.  You have no right, not here on Earth, and certainly not bestowed on you by heaven, to legislate women's bodies--or anyone's body.  I reject your heaven and your so-called divine authority to impose your will on my body.  The Constitution (which you claim to hold in as high esteem as your bible) grants me the right to decide what happens to my body. Abortion is legal and Constitutionally protected.  Rape is rape and is never the victim's fault.  No matter what.  You can label it all you like, you can define it and redefine it, and it's all the same.  I will fight for the laws that protect my body.

I refuse to accept the marginalization of a group of citizens based on their sexual orientation because your bible tells you so.  I reject your bible and your imagined moral authority once more.  Your bible also tells you that you can sell your daughter into slavery and take our neighboring countrymen into slavery.  I have a feeling Canada might not agree with that bit of scripture.  I don't see many daughters on the American market, but I would never put it past you religious zealots to try.  None the less, if you reject one tenent of the bible as outdated socially, then the same principle must apply to all the edicts of the Bible.  Is that really what you want our country to become?    

I live in a world of fact and tangibility--science and technology.  Your belief in an invisible man in the clouds watching over you does not negate my truth.  As the great Neil degrasse Tyson once said, "The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it."  You don't have to believe in science, and I don't have to believe in your god. I have provable facts on my side.  You have faith in a deity you have never seen and have no direct evidence of.  That is your choice. It is not mine however.   Why can't you get that?  You do not have, nor have you ever, had the right to enact legislation based on your personal religious beliefs.  Governance is secular.  Jesus, Mohammed, Buddah, Allah, and Vishnu free.  None of them have any business in our public policy.  

To be quite honest, while Christianity professes to be a religion based on love, it has become a religion based on bigotry and exclusion.  Not by design, mind you.  It's what the leadership has made it.  they've taken the bible and the words of Christ and twisted them.  They've turned what should be a matter of quiet faith and loving ways and turned it into a billion dollar industry that preys upon the weakest and most vulnerable among us.  To be fair, if the churches in this nation want to participate in public policy, it's high time they put some skin in the game and paid taxes.  In fact that's the law.  

Pat Robertson, televangelist and former Presidential candidate, who recently warned his viewers that atheists are miserable and want to make Christians miserable as well, is worth an estimated $30 million dollars.  He's not unique.  Pastor Rick Warren (author of the best selling book, The Purpose Driven Life) is worth an estimated $25 million, and the list goes on and on.  Do they not remember that passage about it being easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than to enter the kingdom of heaven?  I guess that doesn't apply to Robertson or his political funding arm, The Christian Coalition.  

If you really want to see the obscenity of faith, you need look no further than the Vatican, whose net worth is estimated between $10-16.5 billion dollars.  The Vatican is invested in real estate, construction, steel, chemicals, banking, and insurance.  Although a significant portion of their vast wealth goes to the Catholic Church's charitable enterprises, an even more significant portion goes to this:

Just imagine for a minute the number of homeless people who could be provided shelter, how many hungry people could be fed for what this cost to construct?  Is this what the simple carpenter of ancient days wanted his belief system to become?  Is this ostentatious display what Christianity is all about?  What hypocrisy, what absolute self-aggrandizing, utter hypocrisy.  And this is the reason I cannot take Christianity seriously.  It is a mockery of itself.  The simple fact that religious leaders are (pardon the pun) hell-bent on inserting themselves into public policy, shows me that there is an ulterior motive to their actions that has nothing to do with the teachings of Christ and everything to do with their investment portfolio.  

I find it ironic that Jesus never once mentioned homosexuality in his writings and teachings--yet he told his believers to pray in their closets.  It's time that Christian radicals went back in the closet and stayed out of public policy and government.

Mitch McConnell and the Lost Cause

Question of the day: What do you think of when you think of filibusters?  If you're like me, and a lot of other people in this country, you think of the Jimmy Stewart classic film, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.  The film should be required viewing for any Congressperson before being sworn into office. 

This is what a filibuster used to look like.  One dedicated man (or woman) standing on the Senate floor as long as he could or until the 60 required votes were gathered to end the filibuster.  The longest filibuster in Senate history was conducted by Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who filibustered in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957.  He talked for a total of 24 hours and 18 minutes.  It's not like that anymore.  Senators can call in a filibuster from their office or anywhere else and business comes to a screeching halt.

The filibuster has been abused by Republicans.  Over the last 6 years there have been over 300 filibusters.  Our Senate has passed less than 3% of the bills that come to the floor.  The Republicans have hi-jacked the Senate and now they're complaining because Democrats are considering using the "nuclear option", a Senate rule that on the first day of a new Congress, rules can be changed by a simple majority, rather than the 67 votes rules changes require at any other time.

It all comes down to one man; Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, who famously stated the first and foremost priority of the Republican Senate:

In the clip, which McConnell doubled down on in a later Fox News interview, he states that his "top political priority should be to deny President Obama a second term."  Think about that for a second...the Republican Senate leadership wasn't worried about job creation or the economy, or Homeland Security or any of the damned things that keep us all up at night.  His priority was to obstruct the sitting President.  It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out how he went about his attempt to deny Obama a second term.

So, Mitch McConnell, how'd that work out for ya?  Not too well, eh?!  Well now it's time to suffer the consequences, and the Democrats, lead by Harry Reid, are going to do what is necessary to make the Senate a working body again.  You did this, sir.  They're going to take your favorite tool of obstruction out of the tool box.  You asked for it.  

Your present righteous indignation is lost on me Mitch. Remember that "gentleman's agreement" you were part of with Lamar Alexander along with Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer ?  You know, the one where you agreed to not abuse the filibuster and run the Senate openly?  Do you remember that being a bunch of bullshit, as you continued with your obstructionist agenda?  Because we remember, and we're not going to allow you to continue your political vendetta against our President while we, the people, and this country suffer for it.  You, sir, are no gentleman--not by any stretch of the imagination. 

We're glad for Elizabeth Warren, who is coming into the 113th Congress and has the backbone to stand up to you and your team of Republican bullies.  We're grateful for Sherrod Brown who has the courage to press forward and do the people's business. We're proud that Harry Reid is going to go nuclear on this one.  Desperate times call for desperate measures.  You backed the Democrats--and the entire nation into this corner.  This is no time for personal grudges and political vendettas.  This is not a game of chess. You're messing with people's lives and you don't seem to care.

 Mitch, you seem to have forgotten that it's not your Senate--it's ours...it belongs to us.  And we support Harry Reid's efforts to prevent you and your Republican obstructionist cronies from hi-jacking our political process.  We're not going to turn this President's  second term into a Senatorial witch hunt where your top priority is the attempt to impeach our President.  Yeah, we're on to you, Mitch.  We all know about your tactics and we're not having it anymore.  If you want to filibuster, you're going to have to earn it from now on.  I wonder which Republican Senator does the best Jimmy Stewart impression?

  

Sky Diving Off the Fiscal Cliff

It's just this simple--it's us against them.  There are two sets of people in this world--CEO's,  and the people that work for them.  The CEO's are very, very wealthy people and so are their shareholders.  They want to keep all of their money.  They don't want to invest in the country that gave them the opportunity to build their very large corporation.  They expect us to pay for it all, and they've created a seriously large lobbying group to make sure that it happens.

Honeywell CEO Dave Cote

A group of super wealthy CEO's have formed a group that they call the "CEO Fiscal Leadership Council" lead by Honeywell CEO Dave Cote and Goldman Sach's CEO Lloyd Blankfein.  The two of them have gone on a media blitz to tell the country that the best way to pay down the debt is to cut so-called "entitlement" programs.  Have I mentioned that Dave Cote's Honeywell Corporation didn't pay a dime in taxes from 2008-2010?  Nope, not a nickle in taxes, but they got a $34 million rebate from the taxpayers.  Talk about welfare, geez, are you kidding me?  Honeywell enjoyed $5 billion in profits and didn't pay the United States a dime, we paid them.  

Then there's Goldman Sachs, the mega-bank, who received a $10 billion bail out from the federal government (that means you and I--the tax-payers).  Yep, they paid us back (thanks, fellas)!  Goldman Sachs reported 8.4 billion dollars in revenue in the third quarter alone, exceeding Wall Street expectations.  G.S.'s leader, Blankfein thinks that the government needs to "do something, undoubtedly, to lower people's expectations of what they're going to get.  The entitlements, and what people think they're going to get, because you're not going to get it."  

The good news is that Cote of Honeywell realizes that a zero corporate tax rate is not going to fly with the American people, but believes that corporate tax rates should be negligible, "if the US really wants to create jobs."  

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein

It should be mentioned that Blankfein took home a tidy 16.1 million dollars in salary in 2011, and was expected to receive a raise and earn even more this year.  Cote took home a little more than $55 million in compensation for 2011.  He paid around $2.5 million in taxes thanks to the Bush era tax cuts.  

So, after the elections, we learned that we need to be active participants in the political process. Our input to our representative makes a difference.  If we shout loudly enough, they will listen.  We must remind them whom they are working for.  There are a lot more worker bees than there are CEO's.  Of course they're not worried about programs like Social Security and Medicare or Medicaid.  They don't need them. 

 They're fantastically wealthy--but we are not, and we need those programs.  They're not entitlements--they're life-line programs. Programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Food Stamps are a means of survival for a lot of hard working people.  They are important.  We're cutting funding for important things we desperately need as a society like education, and we're still handing out multi-million dollar checks to corporations with billion dollar profit margins?  What the hell is wrong with this picture?  Our government must do better for us.  They represent US.  Yeah, it's time to end welfare--CORPORATE WELFARE!!

How fair is it that we workers pay higher tax rates than CEO's with their multi-million dollar pay checks?  How fair is it that we have to write a tax check for the privilege of living in this country, but a corporation like Honeywell pays nothing?  The fact that they got a multi-million dollar rebate is just another slap in the face to the good hard working people who pay taxes and make this country work.  WE are the job creators.  WE are the engine of this economy.  It's high time we expected a little bit more from the people who benefit from the fruit of OUR labor. 

We have to win this one.  We are at war with giant corporations that believe they don't need to pay a dime to this country and profit off of the benefits of doing business here, making billions off of  government contracts.  They don't want to pay their fair share for anything and instead are trying to make it the sole responsibility of the most vulnerable among us.  

Pick up your phone, send a fax or write an e-mail to your representatives in Congress and tell them you've had enough.  Tell them you believe in shared sacrifice and that the richest among us along with corporations that have enjoyed loop holes in the tax code allowing them to pay zero taxes has gone on long enough. Encourage them to raise taxes on the richest among us. Tell them to end corporate welfare--tell them you've got your eye on them and you're not going to sit idly by and get shafted again.  If they won't work for us, we'll elect someone who will.

Our representatives aren't going to stand up for us if we don't demand they do so.  These CEO's want to throw us off the fiscal cliff while they fly over it in a jet made by Boeing and paid for with tax payer funds.  It's up to us to find our own parachute.  They have theirs, and they're golden.  Enough is enough.  We cannot allow Congress to reduce the deficit on the backs of the poor and retirees and the elderly.  We can no longer sit quietly while our quality of life is diminished and watch the ultra wealthy reap all the benefits the US has to offer.  We have to remain active and engaged in what's going on in our country.  You can find your representatives and contact them by visiting Contacting the Congress.  We have so much to lose and everything to gain by forcing the wealthiest among us and billion dollar corporations to contribute and pay their fair share.  

No Twinkies For You

I'm a fan of snack cakes.  I absolutely love those horribly-bad-for-you, filled with sugar and a bunch of other ingredients not found in nature, sugar rush gems.  I always heard, and believed that there were two things on planet earth that could survive a nuclear holocaust; cockroaches and Twinkies.  Sadly, my beloved Twinkies couldn't survive the insanity that is the Hostess corporation.  When a product that is so deeply ingrained into the American pop culture dies, there are plenty of fingers pointing in every direction assigning blame.  

Farewell, beloved snack cake...

In the same way I like snack cakes that are ridiculously bad for my health, I also try to keep up with conservative news outlets (read, Fox "News" and Rushie).  That isn't very good for my mental health, but it's hard to refute an argument if you don't know what it is your opponent is arguing.  So I checked out their take on the Hostess Bakeries debacle and I was left with one question:  With Rush Limbaugh on the right, and Bill Maher on the left--how on Earth are the makers of Twinkies bankrupt?  

The sheer challenge of maintaining Limbaugh's enormous girth, coupled with Maher's open love of weed should be enough of a bipartisan force to keep Hostess in business for at least another 15 years. Two states have legalized pot and the Ding-Dong bakery is out of business?  How did this happen?

Fox "News" would have you believe that greedy workers who make around $20 an hour and get adequate benefits are to blame.  Any worker that has the audacity to sign up with a union is an enemy of free enterprise and are bankrupting good businesses.  What the bastion of "fair and balanced" isn't going to tell you is that since the late 1990's until now, the income of the bottom fifth of wage earners has decreased by about 6%, while the income for the top fifth of wage earners has increased by 14%.  

In the case of Hostess, while management was asking union workers to take pay cuts and decreases in benefits, they gave themselves huge pay raises.  There's something seriously wrong with this picture.  In the real world, where most of us live, we get raises based on work performance.  We do a good job, presumably we get a pay raise.  Most raises are between 10 cents to 50 cents an hour.  The bosses at Hostess tripled their pay while the company crashed and burned around them--while they asked the guy making twenty bucks an hour to get by with less.  

These are the same people who are trying their level best to avoid paying more taxes, while asking you to pay a little more to support the country and let me tell you, without some intervention things are not going to magically change.  These greedy jack-asses are not going to wake up one morning in their palatial estates and say, "You know what, I have enough money--let's give some more to the people who work for me."  That is never, ever going to happen.  For them, they will never have enough money and they don't care if you're starving in the street.  That is your problem. It's not their fault, it's your fault because America is the land of opportunity and if you only worked harder you could be as rich as they are.  

The income gap in this country is a much bigger problem than the budget deficit and no one is talking about it, nor are they going to unless we force them to.  Whether we like it or not, the people who represent us, as a rule, make a hell of a lot more money than we do.  Self preservation is instinctual.  They will protect their own financial interests first if we let them. If we want Congress to represent our interests we're going to have to make it a priority for them, because they're never going to do it themselves.  The income disparity is going to keep growing and growing until the country hits the tipping point where the other 95% of us can't afford to buy even cheap Wal-Mart crap and the entire economy is going to crumble under its own weight.  The CEO's of Hostess don't shop at Wal-Mart.  Neither do the CEO's of Wal-Mart for that matter.

The truth is that we should all be rioting in the streets demanding fair pay and living wages.  We should be screaming at the top of our lungs for affordable health care and even a fraction of the benefits that the CEO's of Fortune 500 companies enjoy.  Yet, we are not.  Our apathy enables their way of life and destroys our own future and the future of our kids and grand kids.  If we don't stand up for ourselves, no one else will.  If we don't do it soon, no one will be able to afford a Twinkie even if they are still around to enjoy.  

The "Other" Norquist Pledge

I gotta tell you that I'm pretty damned sick of idiots trying to manipulate my elected officials.  There's a battle going on in Washington, DC and in case you haven't met this master manipulator, it's high time you did, because if you've got a Republican representing you in Congress, there are excellent odds that he's manipulating (or trying to manipulate) your Congressperson or Senator.  His name is Grover Norquist and he's a lobbyist and the founder and president of a group called Americans for Tax Reform.  He's also a very wealthy man.

Grover has taken it upon himself to bully members of Congress into signing the following pledge, and most Republicans have acquiesced to his demands.

Taxpayer Protection Pledge: I,_____, pledge to the taxpayers of the (____district of the) state of______ and to the American people that I will: ONE, oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal tax rate for individuals and business; and TWO, oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.

So what I'd like to know is; who the hell elected Grover Norquist, and what right does he have to ask our representatives to sign any kind of pledge?  If this is the way Washington works, then I would like to submit my own pledge to members of Congress for them to sign.

Stop the Idiocy Pledge:  I,_____, pledge to the constituents of the (____district of the) state of _____ and to the American people that I will, ONE, slap Grover Norquist up side his head each and every time I see him in or around the District of Columbia or the halls of the Capitol; and TWO, tell Grover Norquist to mind his own damn business because I represent the interests of my constituency and not his own personal agenda.

I think this pledge would go far in keeping greedy, rich white guys from seeking to further their own personal financial goals by attempting to manipulate members of Congress.  Call it my own personal lobbying style.  Perhaps, some of our more physically fit leaders might deliver the added bonus of knocking some sense into Norquist into the bargain.  Like Norquist himself, I am an optimist and it never hurts to try.  

Grover Norquist is nothing more than another wealthy man trying to protect his own financial interests because it's not you or I or any average "get up and go to work at the factory or the grocery store" kind of people that benefit from this pledge, it's the financial elite that reap the benefits.  Sadly, he's done a pretty damned good job of protecting his own interests so far--but it seems his luck may be running out.  Norquist's pledge leaves absolutely no room for Republicans to compromise and that's getting pretty uncomfortable for those who have made this deal with the devil.  With the "fiscal cliff" that we've been hearing so much about looming large, and after a dismal failure of an election for their party, the Republicans are more than willing to enter negotiations with the spirit of compromise at the fore.  The only thing at this point holding them back is their pithy promise to Grover.

It's time the Republicans ask themselves, "What's going to happen if we break our pledge to Grover?"  The answer is simple; absolutely nothing, other than perhaps, earning the respect of the people in their districts and states that actually do the electing.  If Republicans learned nothing else from the last election, it should be that they're not going to always be successful at buying their way into office with Super PAC and dark money.  So, if they kick Grover to the curb and focus on the good of the country like they should, the sky isn't going to fall.  Nothing is going to happen except progress.  What a concept.  The good news is that more Republicans than ever before are turning their backs on Grover and his ill advised pledge. 

 In order to reduce the deficit, it will take a balanced approach to solve the problems.  There are a myriad of ways to cut waste in existing programs without reducing much needed services.  My personal favorite spending cut?  Ending corporate welfare!!  Exxon-Mobil doesn't need government subsidies--they're doing pretty damned good all by themselves. Companies like General Electric and other Fortune 500 companies can start paying taxes. Right now, a lot of really big corporations end up with zero dollar tax bills and some even get refunds while enjoying record profits.  Closing the loopholes that keep these corporations from paying taxes will go a long way toward reducing the deficit.  

Another productive approach is tackling the monster that is defense spending.  We spend an insane amount of money on our national defense.  Although we need a strong military, we're outspending the rest of the world on defense.  There are plenty avenues to explore when cutting expenses without people losing their jobs and while continuing to maintain our nation's safety.  Republicans view defense as a sacred cow.  Sorry, boys--cow is what's for dinner regarding this conversation.  And so is Grover's meaningless pledge.  Stack those pledges right there by the defense cow and please pass the gravy. 

And people who earn over $250,000 a year can afford for their tax rate to increase by a measly 4%.  That's all the President is proposing, 4 cents on the dollar.  It isn't a lot to ask of them, but it will help.  The fact is; these people are so consumed with greed that they've lost all sense of humanity and decency--not to mention patriotism.  We live in a society that has allowed them to amass so much money they couldn't spend it in their lifetimes, and they're crying about a 4% increase to live in the country that gave them so much opportunity.  

I find it hard to pity the Mitt Romneys of the world.  I promise you that they're not worried about your financial woes.  If you think they are, just take a look at the fact that the average CEO makes 380 times more money than his hourly workers.  Look at the fact that Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke makes as much money on his lunch hour than his cashiers make all year.  They don't worry about much--except paying their workers and their fair share of taxes.  Mike Duke doesn't worry about paying the light bill, or the car payment or what would happen if he couldn't work for a week or two.  They're not like us.

I don't begrudge anyone the right to make as much money as they can.  This is a capitalistic society after all.  But there's a price to enjoy the ride, and they're not paying their fair share.  If we, as fellow owners of the country don't demand they pay the price of admission, we're all going down with the ship. They can afford the increase, even Grover.  They're not going to miss a meal over 4%.  At one point in this nation's history, the top marginal tax rate was 90%.  Perhaps that will provide a little perspective for them the next time it comes up in the conversation.

 We can reduce the federal deficit.  It can be done with a balanced approach. All it takes is some common sense, good will and the ability to compromise.  And our representatives shouldn't be worrying about some nonsense promise they made to a man with an over inflated sense of self-importance.  At the end of the day, Grover Norquist is a nobody.  It's high time people stopped worrying about what he thinks.  It doesn't matter.

We can reduce the national debt without breaking the backs of our most vulnerable citizens.  The middle class can't afford to pay more in taxes, and heaven knows the poor have it hard enough already.  The rich can stay rich while paying their fair share.  Our Congress has been held hostage by one man for long enough.  Pick up your phone and call your elected officials and tell them to scrap Grover's pledge.  Flood their in-boxes with e-mails that say you've had enough of Norquist's crap.  Give the Republicans incentive to turn their back on Grover.  They'll listen to you.  You just have to remind them who they're working for.  Grover didn't put them in office, and he won't return them to office either...but you might if they do the right thing for once.  And while you're at it...ask them to sign my pledge!  

With A Thankful Heart

On the occasion of Thanksgiving, I would like to take the opportunity to thank the readers of this blog, It Matters.  What started as a way to vent my opinions has come to mean a great deal to me.  I know some of you visit regularly, and that you take that time to read what I have to say (usually) daily, is incredible and humbling to me.  Last night this blog received it's 2,000th view.  I have readers all over the world--from Ireland the UK, Australia and Germany to Argentina, and even China.  It continues to be my hope that this place and these words are a conversation starter.  I hope it is a different way of looking at an issue, or maybe you'll learn some little fact you didn't know before and that you'll talk about it to your spouse or your friends.  That's how change happens.  It all starts with words--with a conversation, and I'm deeply thankful that you allow me to be part of it.

As I sit down to enjoy a traditional turkey dinner today, I am also grateful for a host of other things both personally and politically.  Here's my list, I wonder how it compares to yours...

I am thankful that President Barack Obama was elected for four more years.  He'll have an opportunity to finish what he started and we're better for it.  He isn't perfect, and there are still some criticisms and disappointments, but at the heart of it all I believe him to be a good man of strong character and integrity.  He has given me what he promised; hope.



I am thankful that Mitt Romney is pumping his own gas.  After his multitude of outright lies during the campaign, his arrogance and his condescending attitude toward 47% of the American people, it serves him right to have to do such a menial task for himself--just like the rest of us.  I hope he suffers for every single job he and his cronies at Bain Capital stole from an American worker and sent overseas.  I hope he is haunted for the rest of his days for every company in this country that he tore apart in the name of avarice.  

I am thankful that the election saw the tea party weakened and their numbers in Congress diminished.  I am thankful for a Republican party that seems to have learned that the country is not comprised of middle-aged white men and that in order to remain relevant they must reach out to Hispanic voters.  Immigration reform and a clear path to citizenship are on the table and that is progress.

I am thankful for a United States Senate that represents the real America for once.  People of color and women are reflected in their ranks.  Men and women of different faiths and ethnicity are represented.  It is cause for much celebration.

I am thankful for Chris Christie, who despite harsh criticism from his party, stepped up when his state needed him and demonstrated the true meaning of bipartisanship and didn't give a damn what anyone else thought.  I don't agree with his policies or his solutions to the many problems in New Jersey, but he's certainly earned my respect for his actions in the wake of Super-storm Sandy and for giving credit where credit was due to our President.

from left: Katie, Madilynn, me, Matt, Becca, Breanna and Tabitha

On the personal side, I am endlessly thankful every day for my wonderful children and my beautiful granddaughter.  They are truly my magnum opus and I am so proud of all of them.  I'm also quite proud to welcome my wonderful son-in-law, Roberto to our family.  He's a wonderful father to Madilynn and the hardest working young man I've ever known.  Suegra loves you, Berto!  

  

Me with my partner in crime!

I am thankful every day for the man who holds my hand and my heart, my loving husband, Ethan.  He is my best friend and partner in all things.  Without his love and endless support I couldn't do what I do.  Thank you, Ethan for being my biggest fan and for putting up with me when I'm not so lovable.  You mean the world to me and I don't tell you that nearly enough.  So, I'm telling you now, and telling everyone else while I'm at it.


I am thankful for my kitties.  My four pawed companions, who in truth own the place and let me live here because I know how to open cans.  They are constantly underfoot, get in my way when I'm busy and love to lay on my keyboard--but their love is unconditional and they are a source of endless comfort in times of trouble.  They are always available with a purr and a nuzzle when I need it most.  Humans need the love of a pet; it is one of the things that makes life so much richer.  

from left: Mr. Nibbles and Alley Cat

Finally, as I said before, I am thankful for you, my readers.  Thank you for sharing your time with me and for taking an interest in what I have to say.  HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! Make sure you take the time to express your thankfulness with those close to your heart today, and keep in mind those who are less fortunate than we...despite the rhetoric of the last campaign, they are not the enemy--they are our brothers and sisters, and we are their keeper.

Always Abusing Their Workers, and Our Communities

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  It's the gateway to the Holiday rush, and the madness of conspicuous consumption.  Even though its the holiday of unbridled gluttony, Thanksgiving has a warm spot in my heart.  For many people, Thanksgiving has extended to a new tradition--Black Friday shopping.  The day after Thanksgiving is the bellwether for retailers for the Holiday shopping season.  Hopefully, this Black Friday will be the bellwether of something more as well--something infinitely more important.  This year, on Black Friday Wal-Mart Associates are planning to walk out in protest of poor working conditions, low wages and lack of affordable healthcare.



Wal-Mart is the largest private employer in the entire world.  It is also the world's largest retailer with 4,253 stores (as of July, 2012). If Wal-Mart were a country it would have the 19th largest economy on planet Earth.  It rakes in $36,000,000 every hour of every day and reports annual sales of $405 billion dollars.  It serves 100,000,000 customers every week.  In the United States, 90% of us live within a 15 minute drive of a Wal-Mart store, and 8 cents of every dollar spent in America is spent at a Wal-Mart.  People who make less than $40,000 a year purchase 42% of their goods at their local Wal-Mart.  It even has its own group of lobbyists in Washington, DC to represent it's vast interests in public policy and lawmaking.

Wal-Mart's impact on the American economy cannot be overstated.  The six heirs to the Wal-Mart empire are collectively worth more than the bottom 30% of the wage earners in the nation.  Wal-Mart's CEO, Mike Duke makes more on his lunch hour than his average hourly employee makes in a year.  Wal-Mart's effect on the economy touches every aspect of American finances, especially at the local level.  

If the Republicans in Congress are serious about cutting entitlement programs, they need look no further than a 15 minute drive from their front door to the doors of their local Wal-Mart Super Center.  American taxpayers are paying corporate welfare to the Walton family and Wal-Mart share holders in myriad ways.  Wal-Mart is the ultimate welfare queen.

One of the Republicans favorite targets for spending cuts is the Medicaid program that provides healthcare for impoverished people--many of them children.  Wal-Mart offers unaffordable healthcare plans to employees who qualify, with high out-of-pocket co-pays and deductibles.  Most employees can't afford the healthcare plan and qualify for their state's Medicaid program.  In Wal-Mart's home state of Arkansas, the company topped the list of employers with workers on the state's Medicaid program, with over 4,000 employees enrolled.  This is true in several other states as well.  If Wal-Mart offered quality, affordable healthcare to it's employees, costs for the Medicaid program would be reduced nationwide.  

Wal-Mart has received more than 1.2 billion dollars in tax breaks, infrastructure assistance, free real estate and out-right grants as well as low interest financing from state and local governments when they target a community to expand their empire.  Local governments are left with little choice: if they don't cooperate with the corporate giant, they will build in the next town over and the target town will receive none of the (few) benefits of having a Wal-Mart, and still suffer the consequences that Wal-Mart brings with every new store.  

For every low wage job Wal-Mart creates, it takes away almost three better paying jobs locally in retail.  Between 2001-2006, Wal-Mart cost the US over 196,000 jobs in manufacturing because 80% of their suppliers are located in China (where they pay pennies per hour for labor).  

I could sit here and beat you to death with numbers that substantiate the fact that Wal-Mart is a serious threat to the American economy in general.  There are thousands of stories out there from Wal-Mart Associates past and present.  You likely know someone who has worked for them.  The simple fact is that as taxpayers, we're subsidizing our own economic failure by supporting Wal-Mart stores.  Associates work full-time (which Wal-Mart defines as 24 hours per week) and still qualify for food stamps, Medicaid, Low Income Heating Assistance and WIC, a supplemental nutrition program for pregnant women and children under 5 years of age.  

Wal-Mart is legend for it's discrimination towards women, as well as it's culture of vindictiveness to anyone who dares utilize their Open Door Policy for grievances.  The company maintains a squad of dedicated union-killers if any group of Associates are suspected of attempting to organize a pro-labor movement.  They're just a greedy bunch of individuals who are becoming more powerful and wealthy by the minute.  

Wal-Mart is responsible for killing jobs in small towns and large cities alike.  They're responsible for erasing the life's work of so many small family businesses that simply couldn't compete when they came to town.  They impoverish entire communities while giving very little back.  Their record for environmental concerns is atrocious.  I simply can't find a single kind word to say about them, period.  

The good news is that the solution is pretty damned simple.  Don't shop there--ever.  And please don't shop there on Black Friday, no matter how attractive the deals might be.  Stand in solidarity for the people who are brave enough to stand up to Goliath, at the risk of unemployment.   These people are your neighbors, your friends, the lady down the street--they need to know that other people in their communities care.  So, while you're out doing your first round of shopping, show a little good will.  Pass out some coffee and donuts.  Blow your horn in support as you pass by.  Take a half an hour and go stand with them as they picket for fair treatment from their corporate overlords.  Then call, e-mail or write your representatives in Washington, and tell them to end corporate welfare for Wal-Mart.  Let them know you're unwilling to support this culture of greed.

Take the time to learn more about the impact of Wal-Mart and their business practices.  Check out Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price online.  It's available on youtube and Netflix, or you can go out and buy it (from Target or K-mart, I'm pretty sure it's not available at Wally World)!


Fun "cult like" fact:  Wal-Mart Associates are required to perform the Wal-Mart "cheer" no matter how stupid they feel (and believe me, they feel stupid).  The cheer is lead by a member of the management team at least once a week for associates unfortunate enough to be nearby.  To refuse is an offense severe enough to merit dismissal.  If this isn't enough to make you want to buy them a cup of coffee, I don't know what is.  If you work for Wal-Mart--there isn't very much to cheer about.  

Anonymous v. Rove

I love a good conspiracy theory.  I'm endlessly fascinated by stories that claim that not everything is as it seems and I get extra excited when those stories turn out to be not only plausible, but credible.  Such as it is with this story.  What started for me as a delicious conspiracy story has turned from plausible to perhaps even likely.  I'll leave it up to you to decide for yourself.  It all starts with the possibility of vote stealing and a warning from the "hacktivist" group, Anonymous.

Anonymous is a collective of internet activists that has become famous for its hacking skills and DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks against government and corporate websites.  Formed from the imageboard 4chan, the group has been around since 2003, when it launched its first coordinated attack on the Church of Scientology.  The group gained prominence in its defense of WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange.  The group has launched DDoS attacks against such sites as the Department of Justice, the FBI, PayPal, and a number of large banks and credit card companies.  The above video warning to Karl Rove was posted by Anonymous on youtube on October 22, 2012, and it seems to be a warning that Rove and the Romney campaign should have heeded.  

Vote stealing became a little talked about but potentially huge problem in the 1980's and 90's with the increasing use of optical scanners to process paper ballots.  With this technology came the ability to steal votes on a state and nation wide scale.  In the new millennium, touchscreen voting technology made vote stealing even easier, with no paper ballot trail to rely on to prove any fraud had taken place.  Software used for Direct Recording Electronic voting (DRE voting) is proprietary and owned by the corporations that produce the machines.  There is the possibility that any number of votes could disappear or be flipped with the stroke of a few keys.  For more information on the plausibility of vote stealing, read an excellent article in Harpers, How to Rig an Election.

Anonymous posted the following letter on-line as a follow up to their warning to Karl Rove, 

“ 8 November 2012

…. We chose to take action against those who have subverted the will of the people in past elections, which resulted in terrible destruction across the globe. We began following the “digital traffic of one Karl Rove, a disrespecter of the Rule of Law, knowing that he claimed to be Kingmaker while grifting vast wealth from barons who gladly handed him gold to anoint another King while looking the other way.

After a rather short time, we identified the digital structure of Karl’s operation and even that of his ORCA. This was an easy task in that the barn doors were left open and the wind swept us inside.So what do we do with these doors? Do we leave them open and catch the thieves as they steal the prize? Or do we close them so they cannot steal the prize?Our decision —protect the citizens.  We coded and created, what we call, The Great Oz. A targeted password protected firewall that we tested and refined for the past weeks. We placed this code on more than one of the digital tunnels and their destinations that Karl’s not so smart worker bees planned to use on election night. We noticed that these tunnels were strategically placed to allow for tunnel rats to race to the server sewers from three different states. Ah yes, Karl tried to make it appear that there were more than three but we quickly saw the folly of his ploy.We watched as Karl’s little boys and girls confidently ran their tests while Karl told his barons to smoke cigars.

We watched as Karl’s speared ORCA whale was beached, rotting with a strong stench across his American playground, unable to be resuscitated. We watched as Karl’s weak corrupters repeatedly tried to penetrate The Great Oz. These children of his were at a loss–how many times and how many passwords did they try–exactly 105.

We work without remuneration. Karl, on the other hand, takes ships of gold from barons to do their bidding. We sank those ships and we have a warning for Karl–sail again at your peril. We may just put all the evidence into a tidy little package and give it to a painfully bored nemesis hanging out in a certain embassy in London. "

The entire letter can be viewed at www.velvetrevolution.us

So, here's what I know:

  In the 2004 election, exit polling results deviated wildly from the certified election results, especially in swing states.  In one Ohio precinct, exit polling showed John Kerry with 67% of the vote while the official totals gave him 38%.  The odds of this kind of deviation, according to the piece in Harper's is 1 in 867,205,553.  Karl Rove had his sticky little fingers all over that election.  The alleged vote changes had to do with a website that "posted Ohio election returns" directly to the web as they came in.  A mirror site was created by an outfit called SmarTech in Tennessee that was supposed to kick in if Ohio's servers were overwhelmed.  That happened, and the mirror site was engaged at 11:14pm on election night.  When Ohio's servers went back online, they did so with vastly changed vote totals.

As Karl Rove sat at the news desk on election night 2012 on Fox, he was stunned when Fox called Ohio for Obama.  Just like election night 2004, the Ohio servers were overwhelmed, (at 11:13pm) and the mirror site kicked in, just like in 2004; except when Ohio's servers came back online this night--the vote count remained unchanged and Ohio was called for the President.  

Less than a week before the election, Ohio Secretary of State John Husted had voting machines in numerous counties outfitted with a patch that was untested and uncertified.  Because the patch was "experimental", he was able to circumvent the certification process called for in Ohio state election law, even though experimental patches weren't supposed to be used in actual elections.  Husted had mounted a vigorous campaign to end early voting in his state and was the mastermind behind most of Ohio's voter suppression efforts.  

Lastly, there is the tidbit of gossip that Romney never bothered to write a concession speech, coupled with his behavior throughout the campaign.  Romney never bothered to make a serious effort to court independent voters.  In fact, he never made a serious effort to court any voters for that matter.  He always acted like a man who couldn't lose.

Like I said earlier, I love a good conspiracy theory.  Another thing that I love is the concept of Occam's Razor.  Occam's Razor states that the simplest answer is usually the right one.  In the case of Anonymous v. Karl Rove, the razor falls with Anonymous.  I encourage you to read the Harper's article on vote stealing and then draw your own conclusions.  One thing is certain though--whether or not Rove attempted to or had any intention of stealing votes and changing the outcome of this election, we must take steps to ensure there is a paper trail and accountability in our elections.  The dependence on corporate "word of honor" in our democratic process is not, nor has it ever been, good enough.  There must be oversight regarding voting machines and the software they use.  There's too much at stake for us to turn a blind eye to the mountain of evidence proving that election results can be, and have been, manipulated.  

The Ostrich Party

Dear GOP,
   You've been talking a lot lately about whether or not the voters issued a mandate in the last election.  A lot of you deny that we did.  Lately, most of you have been acting a lot more like ostriches than leaders.  You don't have the luxury of doing your ostrich impression anymore--get your heads out of the sand and pay attention.  If you continue  pretending that you can't hear what the voters have to say, you're going to find yourselves irrelevant and out of office very soon.  We're done playing your games, we're finished with being held hostage while you negotiate on behalf of a select one percent of the American people.  This is about us--the real working average Joes of this country.  It's not about you getting reelected.  

We voters did issue some mandates when we went to the polls this November.  We're not going to allow you to buy our leadership.  Yes, you got your Citizens United decision.  You can bring all the money in the damn world into our election process, however, we're not so easily swayed.  You didn't get much for your money did you?   Karl Rove and his American Crossroads Super PAC spent $104,710,427 in this election.  You all got a 1.29% return on your investment. Karl's other venture, Crossroads GPS, that's the "dark money" 501(c)(4) group, spent $70,710,008 in this election cycle but only 14.4% was spent on candidates who won their seats.   The NRA Super PAC, NRA Political Victory Fund spent $11,787,523 and got a .81% return.  Yes, that is correct- less than one percent.  I could go on and on with the figures, but you get the idea.

So, here's the mandate--don't try to buy our vote with Super PAC and "dark" money.  You can shovel good money after bad, but if you don't have good ideas and quality candidates behind that money, it doesn't matter.  We're not going to vote for you.  In fact, we don't like the Citizens United decision handed down by the SCOTUS at all.  A recent poll of voters by Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research showed that 62% of us are opposed to Citizens United and 46% of us are strongly opposed to it.  55% of voters believe that corporations should not have the same rights as people.  If you keep embracing the notion that "Corporations are people too, my friend."  We're going to keep on embracing candidates that disagree.  

You also tried voter suppression tactics, like having your Republican Governors restrict early voting and having your Republican state governments enact ridiculous voter ID laws, but we still voted.  In fact, when we're faced with 4 to 8 hour long lines, it just steels our resolve to cast our ballot.  You had Rick Scott down in Florida purging the voter rolls, and we still delivered the Presidency to Obama.  You Tea-Partiers had your "True the Vote" intimidation squad at the polls and we were undeterred.  You hired companies to hold voter registration drives and then throw away the forms where people registered as Democrats.  The irony that Republicans were more often guilty of the voter fraud they railed against was not lost on us.  

The mandate: The more you try to take our voice from us, the louder we're going to shout.  We will not be silenced and we will not be denied.  Everyone in this country has a right to cast a ballot and participate in the election process.  It is our RIGHT.  Yes, it's true that the higher the turnout, the better the result for Democratic candidates.  There's a reason for this: There are more of us than there are of you.  80% of the people in this country own just 11.1% of the wealth in the country.  We're not going to vote against our own interests.  Like Lincoln said, "You can't fool all of the people all of the time."  

This past week, Speaker John Boehner said that because a Republican majority continues in the House there was "no mandate on for raising tax rates" on the American people.  Paul Ryan, who along with running mate Mitt Romney, still refuses to believe that their policies were rejected, said much the same thing.  Will it surprise you to know that you're all wrong again?  The reason that there's still a Republican majority in the House is not because we didn't vote for Democrats--far from it.  Democratic candidates received over a million more votes than Republican candidates for the House.  You Gerrymandered the districts in 2010 to ensure you couldn't lose control.  It was the only way you could hang on to your waning power.  As it is, the Democrats picked up 9 seats in the House.  No, it's not a majority, but you can see which way the wind is blowing. We kept the White House and the Senate, and we increased our numbers there.

The Mandate:  Raise tax rates on people who earn over $250,000 a year.  63% of us support that idea.  It's very unfair of Republicans to ask middle class and working poor people to pay the budget deficit alone.  What happened to "shared sacrifice?"  We support President Obama on this one and we're not going to let you get away with representing only the interests of the ultra-rich.  We're not asking for much, just a 4.9% increase.  The rich will stay rich.  They just have to pay their fair share.  After all, middle class and working poor people pay higher state taxes than their wealthy counterparts.

While you're at it, lay off of so-called entitlement programs.  When big oil companies are receiving billions of dollars in subsides from the government your carping about a family receiving food stamps rings hollow.  70% of us are opposed to oil companies receiving corporate welfare from the government.  The top 5 oil companies recorded record profits in 2011 and the price of gasoline is outrageous.  Yet you refuse to stop giving them money.  Perhaps now would be a good time for you to lay off of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security along with other programs that help American people.  And for heaven's sake, lay off of PBS.  You're not going to reduce the deficit by killing Big Bird, and you damn well know it.  

The mandate:  Leave our Social programs alone.  You can find ways to reduce the cost of them by addressing redundancy, fraud and waste within the programs.  You can save money by increasing the buying power of Medicare by bargaining with drug companies.  Furthermore, eliminate the cap on Social Security.  People who earn less than $110,000 a year have to pay FICA on all of our earnings.  So should people who make more than that.  It's the easiest, fairest and best way to ensure that Social Security remains solvent.  Raising the eligibility age is unfair.  People deserve to be able to retire and enjoy their remaining years.  People deserve to have enough money in their retirement to get by on.  

So there you go, Republicans.  Get your head out of the sand, and wake up.  The voters gave you a number of mandates in this election cycle.  You'd do well to heed them.  Even Barbara Bush, former first lady (who, by the way, is not known for her generosity for those less fortunate) says that you all need to get over yourselves and compromise.  She's right when she says "It's not a dirty word."  It's time for you to rethink your party's platform.  If you choose to continue your course of obstructionism and ignore the cost to the voters in this country, you're going to find that you have even fewer seats in our government.  Mr. Speaker, you left that meeting yesterday with the President suggesting that we extend the deadline on the "fiscal cliff."  There's no point.  Raise the damn tax rates and be done with it.  Mr. President, stand your ground.  We're with you, and if Boehner wants to take us over the cliff, then let him.  We'd rather suffer some short term difficulties than allow the Republican party to hold us hostage.  Call their bluff.  

Sincerely, 
We, The People

An Open Letter to John McCain

Dear Senator McCain:
   You've managed to get yourself front and center of the cameras again and at this point, I've no doubt that you're feeling pretty proud of yourself.  You and Lindsey Graham have hatched yourselves a plan and it seems to be coming together without a hitch.  I thought you might like to know what's on the minds of the people of America.  By that, I mean the real, thinking people in this country that aren't glued to Fox News and get their information from a number of different sources.  Those of us with minds who are capable of independent thought.

I should probably address this letter to Lindsey Graham as well, since he's your partner in crime for your current escapade, but you see, I don't have a very high opinion of Graham.  He's spent 17 years in the House and Senate and he's done absolutely nothing but serve his own interests and line his own pockets.  He was worthless on the very first day he was elected, he's even more so now and absolutely every breath he draws is a waste of oxygen.  There's no point in directing my comments toward him other than to tell him that he'd feel so much better if he'd just step out of the closet and into the sunshine with the rest of us.  You, Senator McCain--are another matter.  Once upon a time you were a noble and decent human being--but no more.

Need I remind you that we are a nation at WAR?  You remember what war is, don't you John?  You spent some time as a prisoner of war once, as I recall.  You claim that you were beaten and tortured in service to your country.  I'd like to know what happened to the man who had the strength of character to endure such abuse for his country; because the man who held a press conference yesterday whining and complaining about the lack of information regarding Benghazi has no character to speak of.  By the way, did anyone mention to you that while you were posturing for the cameras for the sake of your party there was an actual briefing about Benghazi going on.  Yeah, you missed that didn't you?  It stripped your complaints of any real meaning.

While you were barking and ranting for Fox News and trying desperately to make up a scandal where there is none, our men and women in Afghanistan were fighting for their lives another day.  Did you know that since 2001, 460 Americans have lost multiple limbs in Iraq and Afghanistan?  Since 2010, there have been 36 triple amputees and four quadruple amputees that came home from Afghanistan.  I'll give you a minute to let that sink in.  

Now I'm going to tell you what a worthless piece of trash you have become.  While you're posturing for the cameras trying to trump up a scandal, real human beings--real American human beings are fighting and dying in a WAR you don't even remember is going on.  For those who do make it home, including those who have sacrificed all four of their limbs, you are so busy getting down on your knees for Reince Priebus that you don't even notice them.  Or maybe you just don't care.  You and your party have filibustered bills that benefit veterans.  You do remember what veterans are, don't you?  You used to be one.  Given your recent behavior after your failed attempt to be president, you don't deserve that designation anymore.  Your recent behavior on behalf of your party has stripped you of any honor your previous service to your country may have brought you.  You don't deserve to be considered in the category with real men an women who have fought for their country.  At one time you may have deserved the respect of the rest of us for your sacrifice, but no more.  To use George W. Bush's phrase--you spent that capital.

Do you remember trotting out Sarah Palin as your vice presidential nominee?  I remember it, John, and let me tell you that since you pulled that stunt, going after Susan Rice is utterly laughable.  Who in the hell do you think you are, old man?  Sarah Palin barely has a college degree and doesn't have the common sense god gave a goose, and you're sniping about Ambassador Rice?  I promise you-- that move was as transparent as it gets.  If any of us had any doubts about your grudge against the President, you cleared them up for us with that bit of bull-shit.  You picked Sarah Palin to be a heart-beat away from running this country.  That gives me the right to tell you to sit down and shut the hell up.  

You've embarrassed yourself enough with your moral outrage and self-righteous indignation.  No one buys your crap anymore.  You've dishonored yourself and your service to your country that once meant so much.  No one with a brain has any respect for you anymore, and honestly, you should be ashamed of yourself.  The rest of your final term in the Senate can't end soon enough.  You have no business in our government at any level. You're not fit to lead a pack of dogs, much less be a part of the leadership of our nation.  If you have a shred of dignity left, you'll haul your ass over to Walter Reed and salute the real heroes who deserve our respect for their sacrifices.  Maybe you can earn back a little of the respect the country once had for you.