We Have To Close This "Revolving Door"

We have got to close this "revolving door" between government and business and we must close it legally and formally and soon as possible.

Two Huge Things the Nation Needs

Great news from--who else? Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders:

Bernie Sanders Introduces Bill To End Offshore Tax Havens and Outsourcing of Jobs

Two things that should never have been put in the books anyway but they were because the wealthy and corporations can buy our legislators with "campaign contributions" and get the legislation they want, in spite of what's good for the nation.

Right now, America, we have laws on the books making it legal to take profits that were made here in the US, take them to the Cayman Islands and so, make them tax free.

That is textbook insanity. It's certainly fiscally irresponsible.

And the other thing that should no way have ever been made law was that companies would get tax credits, too, for offshoring manufacturing and so, manufacturing jobs.

More crazy.

We all know we want more jobs back here in our country, maybe especially manufacturing jobs. This is an excellent way to begin that process.

These two efforts, that is, bringing profits and jobs back "on shore", back to America, would go a long, long way toward fixing two major problems in this country. The first being tax revenue on profits made here in the country and the other of bringing jobs back.into the country.

There shouldn't be one government representative that is against either of these goals.

Sadly, however, because the corporations and wealthy virtually own the Republicans and the Republican Party, they won't be for it.

The tough reporting we need from our media

CBS TV program "60 Minutes" did this segment on their program years ago, 2007, shamefully, and it's an important piece:



And the thing is, now, neither CBS nor this program, "60 Minutes" no longer does this kind of honest, hard-hitting reporting on how our government is working and working against the people, against the common man and woman, the working class of our nation. They only do fluff pieces, "infortainment" on puppy dogs and skiers and sportspeople. This, ladies and gentlemen, is why we have the most expensive health care system in the world, and a lot of other systemic, endemic problems in our nation and society. The wealthy and corporations are having their way with us.

And we're letting them.  Lazily letting them--the media and so, our government and the corporations and wealthy--all get away with it and in a lot of ways, most all financial.

Notice, to my knowledge, CBS and this program has never once done a tough piece like this on the big banks like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and the like, even though they famously brought us all, nationally and internationally, to the edge of a fiscal, financial cliff back in 2008,

I wonder why.

Link:  Under The Influence - CBS News

Yet more on buying and selling our government

What I've said all along--our representatives and their legislation are all, both, bought and paid for, as if you didn't need telling:

9-month-old Florida firm donates $140,000 to Scott and state GOP, gets $52 million state deal

Not only that but our government representatives, their legislation and so, our laws and finally, our government is all bought at exceptionally low rates and the benefits the corporations and wealthy get are exponentially larger, as this shows, above.

Disgusting.

From the file "Why We Need to End Campaign Contributions"

And as soon as possible.

We have to fight this, folks. We have to end campaign contributions. And it has to come from us, the people, so we get our government back.

Getting the money out of politics: Flagstaff, Arizona leads the way

If there's any one thing that gives me hope for America, it's that I think all people in the country who care about it and who think things are going wrong can, in fact, agree on one thing. That is, I think we virtually all agree that we need to get the big, ugly, corrupting money of corporations and the wealthy out of our election system and so, our government.

Put more simply, we need to get the money out.

One more thing today I ran across that has given me hope for us all, this article:

Flagstaff Is the First Arizona City to Pass the “Get Money Out of Politics” Resolution

"On Tuesday, May 1, 2012, the City Council of Flagstaff, Arizona passed a resolution condemning the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Citizens United vs the Federal Election Commission and called for a 28th amendment to the U.S. Constitution to overturn the decision and allow states to regulate campaign contributions. The resolution states in clear terms that contrary to the Supreme Court’s ruling, corporations are not “persons” protected by the constitution and do not have 'political speech rights' under the first amendment. Flagstaff is the first city in Arizona to weigh in on this issue."

To repeat: we have to get the money out.

And I think we all know that. Everyone, of course, except the corporations and wealthy who buy our politicians and their legislation and so, our laws and finally, our government know and agree on this.

And thank goodness.

Now, the thing is, the only way it's going to happen is if we--the people--make it happen.

This, then, is a start.

Thank you, Flagstaff, Arizona for leading the way.

Link: http://www.pdacommunity.org/arizona/1620-flagstaff-is-the-first-arizona-city-to-pass-the-get-money-out-of-politics-resolution

More disgusting news about corporations, their lobbying and taxes

There is a somewhat commonly now-known article that came out at the end of last year that pointed out "Between 2008 And 2010, 30 Big Corporations Spent More Lobbying Washington Than They Paid In Income Taxes." (see link below) And that's bad enough. That's pretty disgusting. Rather than do "the right thing", the moral thing and pay their proper amount of taxes, these 30 companies paid more paying off their legislators in various ways, than they did in taxes. Really repulsive. Reprehensible, for sure. But you know what? That's not the worst of it, either. If you think about it, they also WROTE OFF these "lobbying expenses" as "business expenses" on their taxes. So besides not paying as much in taxes and paying more for these bribes to our legislators, they also have us--you and me, the American taxpayer--pick up the tab for this ugly, obscene immorality. Really, they are disgusting. There is no decency in these people. It's "all money, all the time" and "money for money's sake." Pitiful. Link: http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/12/07/383779/30-big-corporations-taxes-lobbying/?mobile=nc

Quote of the day

"Money is like manure — it does no good unless you spread it around." --Anonymous (old country saying). Link: http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/757519/rising_egalitarianism_is_changing_american_politics_--_for_the_better/

The biggest way America is broken

The reason our gov't doesn't represent the people is because "campaign contributions" have gotten so out of hand. We need to, finally, institute true, accountable, tough, prosecutable campaign finance reform so the wealthy and corporations can no longer buy our representatives and so, their legislation, thereby buying our laws and government. Untiil we do that, nothing will change. Until we do that, they will continue legislating for those same wealthy and corporations, instead of for the country and people. Right now, it's not "for the people" at all. We need to get the money out, that's all there is to it.

Quote of the day, from Osawatamie

"It’s heartbreaking enough that there are millions of working families in this country who are now forced to take their children to food banks for a decent meal. But the idea that those children might not have a chance to climb out of that situation and back into the middle class, no matter how hard they work? That’s inexcusable. It’s wrong. It flies in the face of everything we stand for. Fortunately, that’s not a future we have to accept. Because there’s another view about how we build a strong middle class in this country – a view that’s truer to our history; a vision that’s been embraced by people of both parties for more than two hundred years. It’s not a view that we should somehow turn back technology or put up walls around America. It’s not a view that says we should punish profit or success or pretend that government knows how to fix all society’s problems. It’s a view that says in America, we are greater together – when everyone engages in fair play, everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share." —President Barack Obama, today, from Osawatamie, Kansas

We have to get the money out of our government

We need tough, stringent, accountable, prosecutable, true camapaign finance reform, once and for all, so we can get the wealthy people's and corporation's money out of our government. The only way it will happen is if we work for it. We have to make it happen. We have to force it on our legislators and government.

Quote of the day

"Wall Street owns the country...Our laws are the output of a system which clothes rascals in robes and honesty in rags. The [political] parties lie to us and the political speakers mislead us...Money rules." --Mary Elizabeth Lease Link: http://www.readersupportednews​.org/opinion2/275-42/8222-amer​ica-occupies-wall-street-becau​se-wall-street-occupies-americ​a

The lazy, confused, misinformed, ignorant United States citizen

I knew Washington and George W. Bush's White House "played" us all--manipulated the country into going into war--attacking, unilaterally--Iraq. What I didn't know was how badly we were all played when Iran released the hostages so coincidentally for Ronald Reagan and the Republican Party on the day Reagan was sworn into office, as this shows. What I also didn't realize was how even more heavily than I knew, Florida Governor Jeb Bush and the entire Florida Republican Party played the nation during the 2000 election, taking votes from minorities--mostly African-Americans--in order make absolutely certain brother George W. was put into the White House. And more. Lots more. Then there's the Supreme Court decision at the same time. Where's the handgun? (There are 11 parts of the YouTube videos, total. The entire, original video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_lYGyIaK80&feature=related. It lasts a total of 3 hours. It's some of the best time you will spend all day. Heck, all week. No, all month and year and it's for you and your own benefit, no one else's.)

To be clear

Quote of the day

"Slavery is the legal fiction that a person is property. Corporate personhood is the legal fiction that property is a person." --From an "Occupy Wall Street" t-shirt.

"Anonymous" seems to be a collective outgrowth of Banksy

Doesn't it?

THE Hallowe'en mask of the year, 2011

You either get it or you don't.

Attend. Donate. Do what you can

This is the kind of government spending we need to cut

Suppose you're a US House of Representative member and you tweeted some pictures of your body you shouldn't have so you had to resign. Sound familiar? Okay, what do you suppose you'd get from the government. Wonder no more: Weiner sits on $1 million pension, offered ‘Hustler’ job Democrat Anthony Weiner's immediate future may be uncertain, but thanks to congressional rules and the salaciousness of his scandal, things are already looking up for the disgraced New York congressman. Upon his official resignation in the wake of a monthlong scandal involving Weiner's risque online communications with multiple women, Weiner will still be eligible for many congressional perks, including access to a sizable pension fund. (House staff have yet to announce they've actually received his resignation letter.) The conservative National Taxpayers Union (NTU) estimates the 46-year-old congressman's pension to be worth $1.28 million if he retires at age 62 or $1.12 million at age 56. The group's computations assume that Weiner started his pension when he served as a congressional staffer for Sen. Chuck Schumer. In addition, NTU notes that members also participate in a Thrift Savings Plan, which allows lawmakers to rake in matching contributions from taxpayers. "NTU estimates he may have as much as $216,011.96 in accumulated TSP assets," the organization reported. It's a rule that all former members, even those convicted of felonies, may receive their pension funds. And why not, right? Since they're their own bosses and they voted in these benefits for themselves. Well, WE'RE they're actual real "bosses" and we should "unvote" these things in. Let's fire 'em all, take back the government, take away the automatic pay raises--they also voted for themselves--and these nearly automatice pensions and then put in true, stringent campaign finance reform so they can't take corporate money (read: bribes) any longer. Finally, let's make an entire campaign season 3 months long, like the Brits did so long ago. Only then will we get our government back "for the people, by the people and of the people." Link to original story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theticket/20110617/el_yblog_theticket/weiner-sits-on-1-million-pension-offered-entourage-hustler-jobs

Yeah! Let's cut the welfare rolls!

(Thanks and a hat tip to Radioman for the pic and link).

Link (go here):  http://leftwingconspiracy.com/

An idea that's a start...but needs more

Shockingly, I think I may agree with both a Republican, in general, but Jim DeMint, specifically here, today.


His idea:

Term limits for Congress?

By Caroline May - The Daily Caller

Thursday South Carolina Republican Jim DeMint introduced an amendment to the Constitution that would apply term limits to members of Congress.

Ten Republican Senators joined DeMint in his call to limit U.S. Representatives to three terms and U.S. Senators to two terms in office.

“If we’re ever going to permanently change Washington, we must change the process that encourages career politicians to amass personal power instead of making the hard decisions for the nation,” said Senator DeMint. “We need true citizen legislators who spend their time defending the constitution, not currying favor with lobbyists. We need new leaders continually coming to Congress to ensure every taxpayer dollar is spent wisely, not wasted on Washington special interests. We must end the era of permanent politicians that has led us to a $14 trillion debt and a pending fiscal crisis”

My first thought on this was that it's just a bad idea, that the last thing you want to do is to have even more lobbyists up there in Washington, handing out yet more cash and buying influence because more and more representatives in Congress would be filing through.  That wouldn't be good.

But this plan?  This could be a good start.

This could, hopefully, lead to people being in Congress and wanting to be in Congress to do good things--the right things--for the country, instead of just trying to make sure they're taking care of themselves in the cushiest, paying-est jobs in the land.

As my headline above said, it's not enough but it's a start.

What we truly need is campaign finance reform.

We have to get the lobbyist’s and corporation’s and wealthy people's money out of Washington.  We have to erase the need for our representatives in Congress to need this money and that would do it.

That and, as I've said time and again, shorten the election cycle to, say, 3 months, as the British did long ago.

But this might be a glimmer of hope, I think.  

Let's hope this is the beginning of good change for the nation. 

Links:  http://dailycaller.com/2011/04/15/term-limits-for-congress/

http://ebonymompolitics.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/term-limits-for-congress-is-this-a-good-idea/