Support the For the People Act

Yes, Mr. and Mrs. America, by all means, support the For the People Act. It's good for Americans and America.

Besides ending gerrymandering of political parties--carving out voting districts that support their political party, it would also expand voting rights, strengthen ethics rules and limit the influence of private donor money in politics. In the House of Representatives, it's HR1. In the Senate, it's S1. Contact your members of Congress now. Thank you. It really is For the People.

Quotes of the Day -- On Republicans and America

"The only thing Republicans are more scared of than facts are votes." --Middle Age Riot #VoteThemOut

"Instead of making it harder to vote...maybe Republicans should take a close look at whether they have bad ideas and people just don't want to support them." --Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary

Mitch McConnell and the Republicans now suddenly want to protect minority voting rights in the Senate but not voting rights for minorities. Know this, America. #VoteThemOut

America Needs Common Sense Gun Reform Legislation

Yes, as the slaughter of 8 innocent Americans in Atlanta, Georgia this week shows, we, America need just that, common sense gun reform legislation. And Republicans need to get on board or get out of the way.

It's Great to be Wealthy

Let's get this straight. Let's make this clear.

Keeping also in mind Congress just voted down a $15 per hour minimum wage, too. Second Gilded Age anyone? Everyone? Thanks, Republicans! Y'all are terrific. For the already-wealthy. And corporations.

Precisely Why We Need to Impeach

Heather Cox Richardson

February 2, 2021 (Tuesday)

Today, on the same day that the remains of Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick, who was killed in the January 6 insurrection, lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda, the House impeachment managers filed their trial brief for the upcoming Senate impeachment trial of former president Donald Trump. The charge is that he incited the insurrection attempt of January 6, 2021, in which a mob stormed the Capitol to stop the counting of the certified electoral ballots for the 2020 election. 

Led by Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD), a former professor of constitutional law, the managers laid out Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election and his incitement of a violent mob to stop Congress from confirming the victory of Joseph Biden in the election. They note that Trump bears “singular responsibility” for the tragedy of January 6 and dismiss his argument that the Senate cannot convict him now because he is no longer in office, countering that such an understanding would give a president “a free pass to commit high crimes and misdemeanors near the end of their term.” 

The managers detailed Trump’s deliberate attempt to convince his followers of a lie: that he won the election in a “landslide,” and that Democrats had “stolen” the apparent victory. They say he “amplified these lies at every turn, seeking to convince supporters that they were victims of a massive electoral conspiracy that threatened the Nation’s continued existence.” But the courts rejected his arguments, and state and federal officials refused to cave to his demands that they break the law to alter the election results. So Trump announced a “Save America Rally,” urging his supporters to come to Washington, D.C., to “fight” for his reelection. He promised the rally would be “wild.”

Trump, they note, “spent months insisting to his base that the only way he could lose the election was a dangerous, wide-ranging conspiracy against them that threatened America itself.” He urged them to stop the counting on January 6, “by making plans to ‘fight like hell’ and ‘fight to the death’ against this ‘act of war’ by ‘Radical Left Democrats’ and the ‘weak and ineffective RINO section of the Republican Party.’”

On January 6, he urged his supporters to go to the Capitol to stop what he called the massive fraud taking place there. He told them, “if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

Carrying Trump flags, the mob marched to the Capitol and broke in, searching specifically for Vice President Mike Pence, whom Trump blamed for counting the votes accurately, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. One shouted, “What are we waiting for? We already voted and what have they done? They stole it! We want our f*cking country back! Let’s take it!” Others shouted, “Hang Mike Pence!” and “Tell Pelosi we’re coming for that b*tch.”

Allegedly “delighted” at the interruption to the vote count, Trump retweeted a video of his rally speech telling his supporters to be “strong” and, even as Pence and his family were hiding from the violent mob, tweeted, “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.” This sent the mob into a frenzy.

Then, while the Senate was evacuated, Trump tried to reach the new senator from Alabama, Tommy Tuberville, to urge him to continue to delay the counting of the electoral votes.

Members of both houses from both parties called the president to urge him to call off the mob, but for more than three hours, he refused. When he finally issued a video telling his followers to go home, he said, “[i]t was a landslide election and everyone knows it, especially the other side.” He told them: “We love you, you’re very special.”

Later that night he tweeted: “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!”

Trump’s new legal team issued its response to the House impeachment managers today, as well. They stand on the ground that, because Trump is no longer president, it is unconstitutional to try him on an article of impeachment. They also deny that the former president incited the insurrection and say he was simply exercising his First Amendment rights when he repeatedly attacked the legitimacy of the 2020 election.

Far from backing down from his position, Trump is continuing to assert his argument that he won the election. “With very few exceptions,” his lawyers’ response reads, “under the convenient guise of Covid-19 pandemic ‘safeguards’ states [sic] election laws and procedures were changed by local politicians or judges without the necessary approvals from state legislatures. Insufficient evidence exists upon which a reasonable jurist could conclude that the 45th President’s statements were accurate or not, and he therefore denies they were false.”

Trump’s argument has been dismissed in more than 60 court cases, so there is plenty of evidence to conclude that it is false. But he is doubling down on what scholars of authoritarianism call a “big lie:” that he was the true winner of the 2020 election, and that the Democrats stole it. The big lie, a key propaganda tool that is associated with Nazi Germany, is a lie so huge that no one can believe it is false. If leaders repeat it enough times, refusing to admit that it is a lie, people come to think it is the truth because surely no one would make up anything so outrageous.

In this case, Trump supporters insist that there was massive fraud in the 2020 election (there wasn’t) and that Trump really won (he didn’t). As Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) pointed out last week, the Republicans who supported Trump’s big lie and challenged the counting of the electoral votes on January 6 still have not admitted they were lying.

Big lies are springboards for authoritarian politicians. They enable a leader to convince followers that they were unfairly cheated of power by those that the leader demonizes. That Trump and his supporters are continuing to advance their big lie, even in the face of overwhelming proof that it is false, is deeply concerning.

If there is any need to prove that Trump’s big lie is, indeed, a lie, there is plenty of proof in the fact that when the leader of the company Trump surrogates blamed for facilitating election fraud threatened to sue them, they backed down fast. The voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems was at the center of Trump supporters’ claims of a stolen election, and its leadership has threatened to sue the conservative media network Newsmax for its personalities’ false statements. When the threat of a lawsuit first emerged, Newsmax issued an on-air disclaimer.

Today, even as Trump’s lawyers were reiterating his insistence that he really won the election, the issue came up again. When MyPillow founder Mike Lindell began to spout Trump’s big lie on a Newsmax show, the co-anchor tried repeatedly to cut him off. When he was unsuccessful, the producers muted Lindell while the co-anchor said, “We at Newsmax have not been able to verify any of those kinds of allegations…. We just want to let people know that there’s nothing substantive that we have seen.”

He read a legal disclaimer: “Newsmax accepts the [election] results as legal and final. The courts have also supported that view.” And then he stood up and left the set.

Additionally, breaking today:

Hundreds of congressional aides sign open letter telling bosses to convict Trump

They describe hiding ‘behind chairs and under desks’ and barricading themselves in offices, while others watched events of 6 January on TV while they ‘frantically tried to reach bosses and colleagues as they fled for their lives’

We must do this, America. We must.

The Insane, Bizarre, Ugly and Now Dangerous World Into Which This President and HIs Political Party Have Brought Us

 I can honestly still not believe the things this Republican Party President keeps saying and doing. Now we're here:

2020 is the deadliest year in US history, with deaths expected to top 3 million for the first time

What the sorry excuse for "leadership" from this Republican Party President Trump and his political party has gotten us all, gotten the nation. Is it any wonder we wanted to vote him out and so badly? Thanks, Republicans. Thanks so very much. This man Trump and all he has wrought this last 4 years is on you, all on you---forever.  This last fact and statistic is the worst, of course, but it's followed by this beauty, too.

For the 40th consecutive week, Americans file more than a million claims for jobless benefits

Then this happened.

Trump Demands $2,000 Stimulus Checks, Imperiling Covid-19 

Forget that these negotiations have been going on in Congress for months and that Americans are hurting. Millions of us are going hungry, millions more are already facing possible eviction from their homes and consequential homelessness. Oh, yeah, forget all that. Republicans and Democrats finally hammered out a deal to get assistance out to us all and this President, at the last minute, decides the checks--at $600 to us schmoes out here--aren't large enough and the threatens to veto the whole thing. Things you can be sure of just now because of this move by the Trumpster:

1. Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats are rightly overjoyed and loving this President's insanity 
2. Mitch McConnell and the Republicans are about to pull their hair out because of their own President's wildly contradicting excuse for "leadership" on COVID assistance issue and
3. No one, no one still knows what goes on in Donald Trump's mind

Minutes ago, he, Trump, did this.

Trump Vetoes Defense Spending Bill

This took place 2 days ago.

House Republicans meet with Trump to discuss overturning election results

Forget that we voted. Forget that more than 50 different judges and their courts found zero proof of vote fraud. Forget that all those lawsuits by this President Trump and his attorneys were all thrown out. Forget all that. They want to overturn our vote, our votes, our election.

Naturally, it's Donald Trump so it gets worse.

As Trump meets with QAnon influencers, the conspiracy's adherents beg for dictatorship

Of course, they won't think of it as "dictatorship." They'll say they're just trying to reseat the current President because he won this election. Which of course he didn't.

At this stage, we are 27 days from Joe Biden's inauguration.

It can't happen soon enough.

I so hope this doesn't get crazier.

Or uglier.

Ten Reasons We Should be Able to Vote by Mail

 You would think the largest, most killing international pandemic in over 100 years would be enough by itself, wouldn't you?

Meanwhile, we have this excuse for leadership, doing this.

Trump admits he's refusing to fund the US Postal Service to sabotage mail-in voting

Disgusting.

Un-American.

Thanks, Republicans.

Contact your Congressional representatives---especially your Senators--and especially you, Missourians, since they're both Republicans.

Contacting Congress

What's In Congress' Stimulus Package For This Pandemi

As said, here's what's in Congress' just-approved stimulus package to help the nation deal with this coronavirus pandemic.

Help for families

• The bill would provide direct payments of up to $1,200 for most individuals and $2,400 for most married couples filing jointly with an extra $500 for each child.
• Assistance would start to phase out for individuals earning more than $75,000 and for couples with more than $150,000 in income.
• Unemployment insurance benefits would be expanded, increasing the maximum benefit by $600 a week for up to four months. Benefits would be available to workers who are part-time, self-employed or part of the gig economy. People who are still unemployed after state benefits end could get an additional 13 weeks of help.
• Food assistance programs would get a boost as would programs to help low-income households avoid eviction and a program to improve internet access in rural areas.
• Homeowners with federally-backed mortgages would be protected from foreclosures for as long as 180 days.
• Students with federal loans could suspend payments until October.
• Students receiving Pell grants who have to drop out because of coronavirus would not be penalized. 

Help for small businesses

• The bill would give small businesses access to a nearly $350 billion loan program to cover monthly expenses like payroll, rent and utilities. The loans would not have to be repaid if businesses maintained their workforce.
• The eight weeks of assistance would be retroactive to Feb. 15, 2020 to help bring back workers who have already been laid off.

Help for corporations

• The package includes a financial lifeline to the hardest-hit industries, including passenger and cargo airlines. Another pot of money would be available to help other businesses for a combined $500 billion.
• Companies receiving assistance would be barred from raising the pay of certain executives.
• Any company receiving a government loan would be prohibited from buying back stocks while getting assistance as well for an additional year.
• Businesses controlled by the president, vice president, members of Congress and heads of federal agencies are not eligible for loans.
• Companies that kept on workers despite a significant loss of revenue could get a tax credit.
• The bill provides other tax relief to businesses by deferring tax payments, increasing deductibility for interest expenses and allowing immediate expensing of qualified property improvements, especially for the hospitality industry.

Help for health care providers

• Hospitals and medical centers would get billions to handle surging caseloads.
• Hospitals treating coronavirus patients would also get higher reimbursements form Medicare.
• Hospitals could request accelerated payments from Medicare.
• Across-the-board Medicare cuts that were part of a previous deficit reduction agreement would be temporarily halted.
• Extra funding for the Defense Department includes money to deploy the National Guard and use the Defense Production Act to help fast-track production of needed medical supplies to combat the coronavirus.
• Rules on using and paying for telehealth services would be eased.
• Funding would increase for federal agencies to speed work on therapies and a possible coronavirus vaccine, among other activities.
• When there is a vaccine, Medicare beneficiaries would not have to pay to receive it.

Help for state and local governments

• The package includes $150 billion to help state and local governments, which have had major unanticipated expenses while losing revenue. States would get a minimum amount and other funds would be allocated through a population-based formula.
• Disaster relief funding that state and local governments can access as well as a popular funding program for local governments would also be boosted.
• Child care programs would get a funding boost to help meet emergency staffing needs so health care workers and other critical workers will have child care.
• States, which have been postponing primaries, would get additional funds to make voting safer such as expanding early voting and the ability to vote by mail.
• Public transit agencies, which have lost ridership, would get $25 billion in assistance. Airports and Amtrak would also get billions of dollars of assistance.
• Schools and colleges could access nearly $31 billion to continue to teach students as schools are closed.
• State and local police and fire departments could get help paying for overtime and for medical items like personal protective equipment.
• The deadline for states to meet Real ID requirements for enhanced driver's licenses would be extended a year, to no earlier than October of 2021.

Help for the arts

• Museums, libraries and arts organizations across the country, which have been closing because of the pandemic, could get a boost from grants to state arts and humanities organizations.
• The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which has been closed until May, would get $25 million so it can reopen its doors once the crisis is over.
• The Smithsonian Institution would get $7.5 million to help with teleworking, deep cleaning and overtime for security, medical staff, and zoo keepers.

Contributing: Nicholas Wu and Christal Hayes, USA TODAY.

Be careful, be safe out there, y'all and STAY HOME.

Nothing Impeachable?

The President of the United States asked the head of a foreign nation to investigate his foremost rival in the current campaign for election for his very job.

How is that, alone, not impeachable?

Then, on top of that, PEOPLE IN HIS OWN ADMINISTRATION thought, said and testified that this same President was WITHHOLDING NEARLY 400 MILLION DOLLARS IN AID that Congress authorized to help an ally, the Ukraine, against our known, sworn enemy.

Again, if this isn't, if these aren't impeachable, what is?

Oh, heck yes.

It wasn't so much a quid pro quo as it was extortion.

Exactly How Bad Does This President Have To Get For Republicans?

I ask you, in all seriousness and sincerity, just exactly how bad does this one Republican Party President Donald J Trump have to get before people in his political party wake up? What's it going to take?

• He asked the head of a foreign nation to investigate a private American citizen who, oh, by the way, just happened to be the son of his foremost political rival in the current election campaign for his very job
• People on his staff who were on the phone call that day realized and accepted that he, this President, was offering a "quid pro quo" of the hundreds of millions of dollars our Congress has already formally set aside for that country to fight against our mutual enemy, Russia. I prefer to see it for what it really was. That is, blackmail or extortion.
• In spite of insisting, again, repeatedly, on his deep innocence, this President refused subpoenas from our own Congress---you know, that other branch of our government?--and had all the members of his administration do the same. Does that seem like something an extremely innocent man would have to do? Is that not contempt of Congress? 
• He, this President, has been, for 3 years, and still is today shattering the Emoluments Clause of our Constitution by accepting money--and large amounts--from foreign nations while serving as President by not having divested himself of his hotels here in the nation and across the world. Plenty of us out here think the man leading the nation shouldn't be taking not just money but large amounts of money from foreign nations. Imagine that. Our Founding Fathers warned us of it, rightly, of course.

So, what's it going to take?

Yes, some Republicans have thankfully, finally come out against Mr. Trump and are actively working against him (see last link below). But it's no way enough.

I think the DC Reporter has the current situation correct.

Senators Have A Choice: Convict Trump Or Crown Him

Letting the President Get Away with Contempt of Congress Will Make the Legislative Branch as Irrelevant as the Roman Senate

Meanwhile, much to this President's likely delight, Russian Premier Vladimir Putin called out his support for Mr. Trump.

Vladimir Putin Backs Trump, Calling Impeachment Charges 'Completely Made Up'

Can you imagine the outpouring of outrage and vitriol there would have been if the previous President Obama had public support from Vladimir Putin?

So what will it be, ladies and gentlemen?

We're not just in a Constitutional crisis but at least a few, if not more.

What's it going to take with and for these people, these Republicans, these Trump supporters?

Just exactly how bad does he and our situation have to get?

I hope we don't find out and I hope we don't have to.

Links:

Trump vs. the Constitution: A Guide

Trump and the Constitution: A year in review

Donald Trump has violated US Constitution

Donald Trump Has Broken the Constitution

Trump has violated his oath to the Constitution

Can Trump Really Get Away with Murder?

We Are Republicans, and We Want Trump Defeated 

An Unfortunate, Sad But Ultimately Necessary and Even Proud Day

Yes sir and ma'am, I think today is all that--an unfortunate, necessary, sad but ultimately proud day for our nation, for us all. We are voting to impeach the President of our United States today, on two counts--one for abuse of power and the 2nd for obstruction of Congress.

Herein, simplified, are the reasons and evidence:

• This President, Donald J Trump, asked the leader of a foreign nation to investigate a private American citizen and a citizen who just happened to be the son of his foremost political rival in the current campaign for the election for his very office.
• The President took it further, however, and people from his own administration testified it was clear he and understood that he, President Trump, proposed to and was, in fact, withholding approximately 400 million dollars in Congressionally approved aid to Ukraine in their effort to wrest away from the Soviet Union.
• Once this was all brought to light and the House of Representatives wanted to investigate these widespread and assumed allegations, the President blocked his own staff from his administration from responding to and answering subpoenas the House sent down.

Mr. Trump has insisted all along that the call of July 25 this year, wherein he and the leader of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky spoke was a "perfect call" and that he is completely innocent. In spite of that innocence, he blocked all from his administration from responding to those Congressional subpoenas.

If he is, in fact, so very innocent, why, then block these people's testimonies?

And when it comes to these current proceedings, the heck of it is, the impeachment hearings today on these two issues don't even begin to touch on the also-impeachable offence of this President virtually shattering the 25th Amendment of the Constitution, the Emoluments Clause, in his taking not just money but large amounts of it from foreign nations, no less, from his hotels in Washington, DC, Florida and elsewhere.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the right and true and just and correct thing is happening today.

Our own House of Representatives is voting to impeach Republican Party President Donald J Trump. And for only the third time in our nation's history.

As it ought.

God help and save the United States of America.

May justice be done.

I'm personally proud our nation includes a process wherein even the highest in the land are held accountable. That people in his own political party supporting him, because they don't want to lose political power in Washington and the nation, will go down in history as having been on the wrong side of justice and right and good and that very history.

This isn't about Democrats trying to undo the election of November 2016, not in any way.

None of us can be above the law.

Quote of the Day -- On Today's Republican Party

From George Orwell, born June 25, 1903

“Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. 

The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. 

We are different from the oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. 

The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. 

We are not like that. 

We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. 

Power is not a means; it is an end. 

One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. 

Now you begin to understand me.” 

― George Orwell, "1984"

On Impeachment: A "How To"

Thank you, Dr. Robert Reich.


Let's do this.

How to Fix the Corruption In Congress and Washington

Redux.  From a few years ago.


We need to do this.

We need to overturn Citizens United.

We need to end campaign contributions entirely.

We need to Get the Big, Ugly Money Out of Our Election System and Government

Link:

End corruption. Defend the Republic. | RepresentUs

100 Huge Years Ago Today--Celebrating Progress, Working for More

First, the good news.

19th Amendment Guaranteeing Women the Right to Vote was Passed 100 Years Ago Today

Yes sir, 100 years ago today, June 4, 1919, the 19th Amendment, giving women of the United States the right to vote was passed. Great as that was, it's sad it had to take that long but at least they got it done.

Now the bad news.

Women still aren't equal. No way are they equal, as we know. Check out just some of the facts.

Women Still Don’t Make as Much Money as Men

And then there are Neanderthals out there in the world, still spewing this ugliness, inequity and nonsense like this. I found this today, accidentally, in a search.

Why Women Don’t Deserve Equal Pay

And this:

Why women don’t need to earn the same as men

And this, from, of course, a Republican:

GOP Lawmaker Says Women Don't Deserve Equal Pay

The entire Republican Party, supporting the already-wealthy and corporations, of course, not the people, have voted down equal pay for women and repeatedly. The following was from 2008.

Senate GOP blocks Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Bill

This was from 2012.

Senate Republicans Block Pay Equity Bill

This was 2014:

Senate Republicans Block Bill on Equal Pay

Senate Republicans reject equal pay bill

This took place this year.

187 Republicans Vote Against Bill to Close the Gender Wage Gap

Also this year. Not only are Republicans against women being paid fairly, justly and equally with men, they're also against keeping women safer.

House Republicans, at NRA's Urging, Vote Against Violence Against Women Act

So sure, let's celebrate this 100 year old breakthrough, sure, definitely.

But let's work to get more of them, needed ones, soon as possible.

It reminds me of the protest sign for women I saw some time ago.

Women's--and So, Our--Election Gains This Past Tuesday

Herewith, some of the wins, gains by women in elections this past Tuesday.

NEW JERSEY: Former US Navy pilot Mikie Sherrill is running for Congress from New Jersey in the open seat being vacated by GOP Trump protégé Rodney Frelinghuysen. She won her primary Tuesday night, and she's the real deal. Donate here.

NEW MEXICO: Deb Haaland won her primary Tuesday, and is set to become the first Native American woman to ever serve in Congress. Donate here.

TEXAS: Veronica Escobar is set to become the first Latina congresswoman from Texas. Donate here.

ARIZONA: Kyrsten Sinema is running for the US Senate, and would be the first openly-bisexual US Senator. Donate here.

IOWA: Abby Finkenauer won her primary on Tuesday, and will be the youngest woman elected to Congress if she beats Tea Party Trump-supporting GOP congressman Rod Blum this fall. Donate here.

KENTUCKY: Former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath is running for Congress as a Democrat from the 6th district in Kentucky. McGrath just won her primary Tuesday. Now let's take her across the finish line. Donate here.

NEVADA: Jacky Rosen has the best chance to unseat a Republican US Senator this fall, in her battle against TrumpCare architect Dean Heller. Donate here.

Posted in a quest to get more women, hopefully, elected to public, government offices. They make up 52% of the population, after all, yet are vastly under-represented in those offices.

With thanks to John Aravosis and his Americablog for the summary, links and really, all of the above, honestly.

Links:

Women 50:50

About Us - Women 50:50

On Memorial Day -- You Want Patriotism?

So it's Memorial Day.

So yes, honor the soldiers. Honor their sacrifice. Honor their sacrifices.

But let's go a step or more further.

To all the government representatives out there, you want patriotism? Do you expect it?

Fine, you want patriotism, then give us the following, do the following--

• Stop creating wars for the soldiers to fight and die in.
• In fact, see to it we bring home thousands of our military, scattered all over the planet.
• Shrink the Defense budget. That's right, shrink it. It's bloated, it's wasteful and it weakens us, weakens the nation.
• Then, internally, give us a country that's more just.
• Give us a country with at least less wealth inequality. Fight wealth inequality, large and small.
• Give us a nation that works, even fights for those with less.
• Work for, fight for a nation that's not segregated.
• Write bills to fight racism and yes, racists.
• Write bills to fight segregation, racial segregation.
• Work to make our schools better. All our schools, for all of us, not just for those who can afford Charter and private schools.
• Fight for the common man and woman, the working man and woman of America.
• Work for the middle class.
• Heck, work for the lower classes. So many of you call and consider yourself Christian and Christians.
• Fight to overturn Citizens United.
• Work to end "dark money" in our government and politics. We deserve to know where campaign contributions come from.
• Better yet, fight to end campaign contributions entirely. Let's do away with the problems of campaign contributions.
• Fight to bring back the Fairness Doctrine so people give two sides, minimum, to each news story in our media. They're our airwaves, after all. 
• Work to ensure clean air, water and soil and for all.
• Stop working and fighting for only or mostly the already-wealthy and corporations.
• Stop working more or only for your political party and work for the nation. Be statesmen and women in your governmental work

In short, give us back our nation. All of us. Work for all of us.

When you do this, you make us all better and you make the nation stronger. In doing these things, you would truly "make America great again."

Then we'll talk patriotism.

Fantastic Article On American Health Care Today

There is, as said above, a fantastic article in the New York Times today outlining things we ought to get, rights we ought to have, from our health care providers and system. It's an eye opener, not least of which because we all know these are out there and we can be subject to each and every one of them.

Nine Rights Every Patient Should Demand 

And they are:

1. The right to an itemized bill in plain English.

2. The right to never receive a surprise out-of-network bill.

3. The right to accurate information about the provider network in my insurance plan.

4. The right to a stable network.

5. The right to be informed of conflicts of interest.

6. The right to be informed in advance about any facility fees.

7. The right to see a price list for elective procedures.

8. The right to be informed of cheaper options.

9. The right to know that a disputed bill will not be sent to a collection agency.

Here are 9 things we're subject to, as Americans, as patients and each one is pretty outrageous, really. After all, it's our health and it's our health care system. Yet we're subject to all of these any time we go to a doctor or the hospital. It is, again, outrageous.

And why do we put up with this? Why do we tolerate this?

Partly because we have to. Partly because we know the corporations and moneyed people are in charge. They can give their Congressional representative---our Congressional representatives--some money and they get the laws and government they want.

They're in control.

Welcome to "free market", profit-driven health care, America.

What're you gonna' do about it?

A Silver Lining of This Presidency

Republicans retiring in record numbers

The Very Important Speech Yesterday Every Voting American Should Hear

Senator Jeff Flake gave a now very famous and even important speech yesterday in and to the Senate and nation. Here is just a bit of it.



It is time for our complicity and our accommodation of the unacceptable to end. In this century, a new phrase has entered the language to describe the accommodation of a new and undesirable order, that phrase being the new normal.

But we must never adjust to the present coarseness of our national dialogue with the tone set up at the top. We must never regard as normal the regular and casual undermining of our democratic norms and ideals. We must never meekly accept the daily sundering of our country. The personal attacks, the threats against principles, freedoms and institution, the flagrant disregard for truth and decency.

The reckless provocations, most often for the pettiest and most personal reasons, reasons having nothing whatsoever to do with the fortunes of the people that we have been elected to serve. None of these appalling features of our current politics should ever be regarded as normal. We must never allow ourselves to lapse into thinking that that is just the way things are now.

If we simply become inured to this condition, thinking that it is just politics as usual, then heaven help us. Without fear of the consequences and without consideration of the rules of what is politically safe or palatable, we must stop pretending that the degradation of our politics and the conduct of some in our executive branch are normal. They are not normal. Reckless, outrageous and undignified behavior has become excused and countenanced as telling it like it is when it is actually just reckless, outrageous and undignified.

And when such behavior emanates from the top of our government, it is something else. It is dangerous to a democracy. Such behavior does not project strength because our strength comes from our values. It instead projects a corruption of the spirit and weakness. It is often said that children are watching. Well, they are. And what are we going to do about that? When the next generation asks us, ‘Why didn’t you do something? Why didn’t you speak up?’ What are we going to say?

Mr. President, I rise today to say: enough. We must dedicate ourselves to making sure that the anomalous never becomes the normal. With respect and humility, I must say that we have fooled ourselves for long enough that a pivot to governing is right around the corner, a return to civility and stability right behind it....

...We were not made great as a country by indulging in or even exalting our worst impulses, turning against ourselves, glorifying in the things that divide us, and calling fake things true and true things fake. And we did not become the beacon of freedom in the darkest corners of the world by flouting our institutions and failing to understand just how hard-won and vulnerable they are.

Links:

Full Transcript: Jeff Flake's Speech on the Senate Floor

Trump's morning tweets draw widespread condemnation