A Phenomenal Idea--and Challenge--for We, the People, to Take Back Some Control of Our Government

Ralph Nader just created a fantastic idea for us Americans to get the attention of our Congressional representatives in Washington and hopefully get at least some of our government back for us instead of only for the already-wealthy and corporations. It is here, in its entirety:

Sending Citizens Summons to Members of Congress

With the long congressional recess in August through Labor Day approaching, “We the People” have the opportunity to do more than complain about the Congress and individual Senators and Representatives.

There are many issues affecting you and your communities that need to be addressed by members of Congress. Over the years, it has become increasingly difficult to reach the legislators in Washington, DC and when they return to their districts and states, they often only attend public events and ceremonies where they do little more than shake hands and smile.

The diminishing number of in-person town meetings by members of Congress are often stacked and controlled. The locations, attendees, and even sometimes pre-screened questions fail to provide citizens an opportunity to make their case to their legislators. Politicians crave predictability; they are control freaks.

Our five hundred and thirty-five Senators and Representatives need to be reminded that they were sent to Washington, DC by voters back home who entrusted them with the well-being of their communities and country. Many of these lawmakers then become indentured to corporate campaign cash that they must constantly beg for, often compromising with what is in the best interest of their constituents. For all this corporate campaign cash, these corporations want something in return – government contracts, giveaways, tax loopholes, weak corporate law enforcement, and other privileges and immunities, especially for giant multinational corporations that have tightened their grips of crony capitalism on Washington.

So what happened to your votes and your trust in your elected representatives? They were nullified and replaced with ungrateful politicians who have forgotten that the authority lies with the people.

It is time, during this August recess, for “We the People” to shake up the Congress and shake up the politics across the land. If anyone is skeptical of this possibility, they should recall August 2009 when the Tea Party noisily filled the seats of some town meetings called by Senators and Representatives in a Congress run by the Democrats. That is how the Tea Party movement came to public visibility, with the daily help of Fox News.

After that experience, many members of Congress were forced to reevaluate the power and influence of Town Meetings.

My proposal of a Citizens Summons can begin the process of showing your elected legislators who is truly in charge, as befits the Preamble to the Constitution – “We the People.” I am including below a draft Citizens Summons to your Senators or Representative. It covers the main derelictions of the Congress, under which you can add more examples of necessary reforms.

Your task is to start collecting signatures of citizens, members of citizen groups, labor unions, and any other associations that want a more deliberative democracy. The ultimate objective is to reduce inequalities of power.

Shifting power from the few to the many prevents the gross distortions of our Constitution and laws, our public budgets, and our commonwealth, that currently favor the burgeoning corporate state.

May you give your lawmakers a memorable August recess; they deserve to be shown the workings of what our founding fathers called “the sovereignty of the people.”

The Citizens Summons to a Member of the Congress: 

Whereas, the Congress has tolerated the expansion of an electoral process, corrupted by money, that nullifies our votes and commercializes both congressional elections and subsequent legislation, creating a Congress that is chronically for sale; 

Whereas, the Congress has repeatedly supported or opposed legislation and diverted the taxpayer dollars to favor the crassest of corporate interests to the serious detriment of the American people, their necessities, and their public facilities – such as access to safer consumer products, health care, and other basic social safety services. It has opposed raising the inflation-ravaged minimum wage and fair taxation, allowed endemic waste, fraud, and abuse by contractors, and authorized massive corporate welfare subsidies and giveaways; 

Whereas, the Congress has narrowed or blocked access to justice by millions of Americans, leaving them unprotected and defenseless in many serious ways, while giving business corporations preferential treatments and allowing them full access to influence the three branches of government; 

Whereas, the Congress has imposed trade treaty despotisms over our democratic institutions – the courts, legislatures, and executive departments and agencies – subordinating our domestic branches of government’s abilities to preserve and enhance labor, consumer, and environmental standards to the domination of global commerce’s “bottom line” and endorsed the usurpation of our judicial process by secret tribunals under the WTO, and other similar invasions of U.S. sovereignty; 

Whereas, the access to members of Congress has increased for corporate lobbyists and decreased for ordinary citizens, Therefore, the citizens of the [INSERT state (for Senators) or the congressional district (for Representatives)] hereby Summon you to a town meeting(s) during the August recess (ending September 7, 2015) at a place of known public convenience. Your constituents will establish an agenda of how Congress should shift long overdue power from the few to the many, both in substantive policy and through the strengthening of government and civic institutions; 

We deem this Summons to be taken with the utmost seriousness as we gain grassroots support throughout your congressional district (or state for Senators). We expect to hear from you expeditiously so that the necessary planning for our town meeting can take place. This Peoples’ Town Meeting reflects the Preamble to the Constitution that starts with “We the People” and the supremacy of the sovereignty of the people over elected representatives and corporate entities; 

Be advised that this Summons calls for your attendance at a Town Meeting run by, of, and for the People. Please reserve a minimum of two hours for this serious exercise of deliberative democracy. 

Sincerely yours, 

The names of citizens and citizen groups

(For any additional questions about this proposal, send an email to info@nader.org.)

______________________________________

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License

So there it is, ladies and gentlemen.

Let's get busy.

Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate, lawyer, and author. His latest book is The Seventeen Solutions: Bold Ideas for Our American Future. Other recent books include, The Seventeen Traditions: Lessons from an American Childhood, Getting Steamed to Overcome Corporatism: Build It Together to Win, and "Only The Super-Rich Can Save Us" (a novel).

The Robin Hood Tax and why we should get behind it

"Wall Street banks and corporations are raking in record profits while our communities continue to suffer job losses and cuts to public programs. Instead of lining the pockets of corporate fat cats, this money should go to our children’s Head Start programs, Grandma’s retirement, and fixing our broken healthcare system.

It’s time for the administration to stand with the people and TAX WALL STREET. Join us April 20 as we march to the White House and Treasury Department to demand a financial transaction tax on Wall Street trades so we can put the money toward global health needs, addressing the climate crisis, jobs, and education."
Sign up to support here:

http://www.robinhoodtax.org/get-involved

12 Corporations pay tax rate of -1.5% on $171B in profits, then it gets worse

The Citizens for Tax Justice put out a report that shows that Twelve Corporations Pay Effective Tax Rate of Negative 1.5% on $171 Billion in Profits; Reap $62.4 Billion in Tax Subsidies What this means, boys and girls, is that not only did they NOT PAY ANY TAXES but, worse, WE PAID THEM TO DO BUSINESS. Sound fair? No, no it's not. Legal, yes. Unethical? For sure. Insane? You bet. This is no way to run a country. Feel like a sucker yet? See the report here: http://www.ctj.org/ctjreports/2011/06/twelve_corporations_pay_effective_tax_rate_of_negative_15_on_171_billion_in_profits_reap_624_billion.php; http://www.scribd.com/doc/56809745/12-Corporations-Pay-Effective-Tax-Rate-of-Negative-1-5-on-171-Billion-in-Profits

Corporations win again. America? You lose

It's happened again.

First it was the Supreme Court handing over the capability to flood government election campaigns with unlimited amounts of corporate cash, now, yesterday, a federal court ruled in favor of corporations, this time regarding internet access :

"A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that regulators had limited power over Web traffic under current law. The decision will allow Internet service companies to block or slow specific sites and charge video sites like YouTube to deliver their content faster to users."

"The court decision was a setback to efforts by the Federal Communications Commission to require companies to give Web users equal access to all content, even if some of that content is clogging the network."

I've written here before how, years ago, it used to be the government's job to protect both the "little guy"--you and me out here in the country--as well as the broader interests of the country, against the corporations.

It is certainly less and less so lately.

With this ruling yesterday, a couple of things have come out.

First, it effectively strips the power of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate the internet and all our access to it. If a corporation finds it in their best interest to slow internet access down, according to this ruling, they can do it.

That's bad for you and me but it's also bad, truly, for business.

In the rest of the world--Japan as an example, in particular--fast computer access is more of a given. The US is already known for having slower computer downloading and access.

This gives the companies the ability to give fast loading to those who can and will pay for it. Quick internet access to the highest bidder.

Typical, right? Computer capitalism. It's the "American Way", even if it is, at its core, unfair, imbalanced and, again, bad for the country, let alone bad for you and I--and small business.

It's clear this is what it's come to--more and more, the courts rule for the corporations and against the broader interests of the country, as I said above.

In this latest case, Comcast won while you and I and the US lost.

Let there be no doubt--the corporations are in control.

We need to take our country back from them.

Ralph Nader has been warning us for decades.

Here's a real hoot

Okay, so it's projected that, even if, God forbid, we didn't win the White House this Fall, we Democrats are, it seems, absolutely supposed to be taking over the House and Senate.

Glory Hallelujah!

Sure, we're happy but we really have to keep our representative's "feet to the fire", as the saying goes and we all know.

There's a story out right now, showing that the big money from Big Pharmaceuticals is already flowing more to Democrats than Republicans. (Link to full story here:
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/10/drug-industry-dough-shifting-t.html).

What's really sick is that this information shows that, while it's flowing to Dems now--about 51% to Dems vs. 49% to Repub's--when the Repub's were in charge, it was 2 to 1 for them. It just goes to show you who they think they'll really get the most for their lobbying/bribing dollar from. With Republicans in charge, Corporate America knows it gets much more of what they want with them. Sure, there's still representatives they can buy with Democrats but they aren't as blatant about it. There's some things even a Democrat can't be bought for--so far.

We've just really got to push for reform.

And keep pushing.

One of the first things that should happen, for instance, is that the government should repeal what this President and Congress got and that is, making it illegal for our own government to negotiate lower drug and pharmaceutical costs for us, the American People.

Did you know about that? Unbelievable, really. They passed it some time ago, fairly quietly. Seems the media didn't make a big deal out of it and neither did the American public.

How stupid.

This should never have been allowed.

"Let's just let 'em take us right to the poor house! We don't need affordable medicine in this country! Their huge profits are far more important!"

What's amazing is that, usually, a small donation of from between $5,000.00 to $50,000.00 in contributions to different representatives can gain them multi-million dollar tax benefits.

It's gotta stop.

We have to keep saying "enough", again and again, until we change this government so it works for us again, instead of for Corporate America--and internationals.

Whatever you want to say about Ralph Nader, if you've read him over the years, he's right. Corporate America is now and has been for years, in charge of this country.

We need to take the money--the big money--out of government, away from lobbyists and our representatives and out of our elections. We need to shorten our election time so it's more like the English system. It'll take time but it's what we need to do.

It's time.

A Lesson

The George W. Bush Administration should go down in history as a lesson for the United States and the world--for Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Independents, the Right, the Left, in short, everyone, everywhere--to show what the world is like when greedy corporations run that same world. It shows its graft, corruption, greed, incompetence, lack of care for the weak, ill, poor, etc., and sheer irresponsibility. It is exactly what President Eisenhower and Ralph Nader, both, among many, many others, warned us about, long before now and it's ignored at our larger, greater peril.

All this said, I should mention, as I said earlier on this blog, it wasn't my intention to have so much of this be about the Bush Administration and corporate America and international conglomerates running roughshod over the planet and its citizens. But with all this administration has blatantly done and with such contempt for the man on the street, it galls me that more people aren't paying attention. It has seemed it needed pointing out. That and the fact that it's cathartic to and for me, to put ideas, thoughts and facts down, so people can either know more of what's going on or, yes, hear my thoughts. It isn't meant to be about me.

Once "W" is gone, next January, I hope to broaden this blog, to more things of the world. It isn't that all the ugliness and selfishness and greed are going to leave the world with his exit, far from it. I just hope the blatant power-grabbing and sheer evil of Darth Cheney and the whole cabal will be gone and we can get back to doing more, better work for everyone's sake.

I'm not naive. We'll still need to change thigs, sure. And corporations aren't going away, along with grubby politicians. But I do hope we improve somewhat, if not a lot. The circumstances are going to require it, I think and believe.

Great Value for the Money

You wanna hear great value?

You wanna hear money well spent?

You wanna hear about a great return on investment?

Look no farther than our own goverment.

The same government that has $2000.00 toilets--or whatever--is able to get a whole lot out of very little, really, but not in a good way.

In our newspaper today, it told of Representative John Murtha, from Southwestern Pennsylvania, getting a mere $30,000.00 from DRS Technologies, a military equipment company.

And for this paltry $30,000.00 investment from DRS--which is also tax-decuctible, keep in mind--what did Rep. Murtha get for DRS? Why, $30 million in earmarks from our goverment.

Is this a great country or what?

Check this out:

"The House committee alone has 23,438 earmark requests before it, so many that its website for accepting requests froze up and the deadline for receiving them had to be extended."

So much for the Democrats cleaning up government, right?

Is it any wonder firms line up to hand out $2,000.00 here and $10,000.00 there for their own representative? For thousands of dollars in contributions, companies get back millions from their government representative and government. Read: you and me.

Oh, yeah. It's a sweet deal all right. And it's repeated again and again in the halls of our governments.

President Eisenhower warned us of the "military-industrial complex". Sure. And we heard it. Ralph Nader has been warning us for years.

But have we really done anything about it?

A Change is comin'

You know what? I got to thinking today that I'd write about the lack of sustainability of the way we-mankind-live today. I had written down several salient, pertinent points about the whole thing. How we're basically killing ourselves and wiping out all our resources. It had nothing to do with this being Earth Day, too. It just all came to me and I knew it was true and right.

But then, by the end of the day, I also realized that I'm not educating anyone; I'm not saving anyone--least of all mankind.

Millions of knuckleheads went out and voted for George W. Bush for President, not once but twice, unbelievable and anathema to me as that is. And no one is going to stop doing incredibly stupid stuff like that because of anything I write. Corporations and rich people are going to go on being incredibly selfish, self-centered, greedy and downright ugly and, yes, stupid. Nothing is going to change.

So you know what?

To hell with it.

Yeah. No kidding.

I don't want to be some bitter, old, well-informed fool who tries to go around letting people know what's "right".

I have my opinions and I'll just keep them.

I sent my brother an email with the information from Harper's, below--my earlier entry--on how the President is no doubt the worst one ever.

His response? He wrote back that he didn't want to hear negative things.

Yeah, well, good for him, right?

And that's the way it is with America. They don't want to face that their own brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, friends and soldiers are being killed for them and in their name. They don't wanna hear about Iraq. (It's the 4th highest priority right now, according to polls, in terms of importance, to the American voting public). They don't want to hear about how they need to sell their 8 cylinder automobile and conserve fuel.

They don't want to hear anything that's corrective. Nothing could possibly be wrong with the United States, could there?

Ralph Nader is right about America and corporations but hardly anyone cares.

Understand, this is not a response to my brother's email response. His stance is just typical of America. He's going along.

My response is more a desire on my part to try to just be pleasant and positive and not think or feel that I have to be aware of every problem in the United States--or the world--so I can write about either the wrong, what we should do to correct the wrong, or both.

Screw it.

I'm changing this blog to be one about photography, humor and beauty, if and when I can find it.

No one's looking anyway.

the day begins

I've thought for a long time that I wanted to put something "out there" There's so much to say, so much to notice, so much to be aware of। It seems like not enough people are paying attention (can you say "subprime meltdown"?) But at the same time, it should be a place for some fun। If you can't laugh while the house is burning, what fun it that?

So here goes.

It seems that there's a hell of a lot out there in the world that's really insane, doesn't it? Really crazy? Zany? The guy in the White House, for starters. How does someone with so obviously little imagination get into a place like that? (Oh, yeah, wealthy multinational corporations and lunatic-fringe right wing fundamentalist Christians put him there).

Talk about "1984". Orwell couldn't believe this guy. A "Consumer Products Protection Agency" that doesn't protect the consumers. An "Environmental Protection Agency" that doesn't protect the environment. A President who can barely talk. Sheesh. It goes on and on.

But at the same time, while all this stuff is being done in our name, not only is the media not investigating or writing about much of it, hell, not that many people are having the kind of fun with it you might expect. Other than Bill Maher--who isn't as funny as he is poignant--and Lewis Black--now that's funny--with all this material, you'd think someone would be makin' a bloody mint, writing hilarious stuff, based on our real lives. SNL is lame when it should be rippin' somebody.

I think the corporations are holding stuff back, at least on the tube. Thank God (if there were one) for the 'net. The really good stuff can come from there.

Did anyone notice the other day that this Administration is going to let a British company, of all things, explore outside Grand Canyon National Park for bloody uranium? You gotta' be kiddin' me. For real? The British? Why them? Why there? Why now? Is there ANYTHING we won't sell? It's unbelievable. Holy cow. What is NOT for sale in this country? God knows our kids are.

Do you know there are school districts that have MULTIPLE "Picture Days" at their schools, just so they can raise more money? It's like the now old saying goes, we should spend as much on education as we do on defense and have the military have bake sales. (Not literally, but you get the meaning).

It would be nice if we gave a hoot about education in this country. We really don't. Get real. We cut Physical Education. We cut the arts. We cut Music. We're cutting History and Civics. If you don't know this, check it out. Maybe not all school districts but too many. And then we wonder why people end up in jails and prisons. Hell, people, it's because we don't educate them and WE DON'T WANT TO. Everyone is supposed to totally, completely pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.

And that includes their health.

Everyone is just supposed to stay healthy. That's all there is to it. And if you don't? Then go to the doctor and/or the hospital. Can't afford it? To quote the song from "Avenue Q", "It Sucks To Be You." That's the way it goes. You're done. Pull yourself up, man. No support from yer fellow man. Yer done.

And taxes? We don't pay no stinking taxes! We want things done for us like roads and schools and bridges and infrastructure but we don't wanna pay no stinking taxes! People who pay taxes are suckers. Check it out. If you pay taxes, you get no respect. Leona Helmsley was speaking for most of this nation when she said==paraphrased--"Only the little people pay taxes."

We don't respect the nations around the world who have national health care. They're suckers. They pay high taxes. They're stupid. Yeah? Well, they also have much lower mortality rates than the United States, too. They have much lower costs for health care. And do you know why? Because they've taken the profit motive out of health care, the way it ought to be. Once you take the profit motive out of health care--like you do for utilities, etc.--the doctors, lawyers, insurance agencies, pharmaceuticals, hospitals and all the other agencies involved with draining the system, it is, then, what it ought to be, and that is, a system set up to help us stay healthy. It's not what it is now, today, in the United States. The health care system in the United States today is a place people go to get and stay wealthy. It's for rich doctors. It's for rich attorneys. It's for corporations to get rich.

Face it, the corporations are in charge. Ralph Nader has always been right. And the American people are letting the corporations clean their collective clocks.

Suckers.

More later..........................................Scroll to pictures below.