I have been rightly chastised, and I oppologize for my offensive remarks. When I wrote my last two entries, I was an emotional wreck and I spewed forth hate. I am sorry.

Mike Gravel really impresses me with his stand on most issues. He seems to be the most Progressive candidate in the field. He is the strongest supporter, from what I've read, of the LGBT communities issues. I know that Bill Richardson has made New Mexico a safe haven of sorts for all people, but I'm not aware of him taking a supportive stance on the national stage.

On a more local note, I am watching the DC Voting Rights issue with a bit of interest. If this legislation passes and Utah gets a fourth Congressional district to "balance out" the DC district, it will be interesting to see what happens. Our lone Democratic representative, Jim Matheson, has publicly stated that he was not supportive of this legislation. With the way the Republicans in our state gerrymander districts, he is probably afraid that they would make a district that he couldn't carry in an election. The way that the legislature has split the state if we get a fourth seat, the liberal havens of Salt Lake City would share a district with the equally liberal Park City area. If Matheson tries to run in this district on his "Republican Light" platform, he would never make it out of caucus. There are some real Progressives that have the support of the two biggest caucuses- teachers, and the largest, the Stonewall Democrats. He actually had the nerve to stand before the largest caucus in the State of Utah at the state convention last year and way that he didn't support our issues. If he wants to keep his seat, he should run in the rural district that represents the Eastern part of the state. If he does that and can win the election, then we could have two Democratic representatives from Utah. It's something to think about.

As a true Progressive, I would like a way to motivate our elected officials to invest in our country. The wars in the ME are a distration created by the fascist/cultist, pro-business factions within our country that have no remorse in destroying the middle class in our country.

We need equitable taxation starting with a reqeal of the Bush tax cuts. We need to lower the taxes on those making less than 50K a year and exponentially increase taxes on those making more than 100K a year. This would be the start of an equitable redistribution of wealth similar to what has been done in every other industrialized nation.

To restore our economy, we need a New Deal for the 21st century. We need to do this in a manner that protects our environment. A good start would be to create debt to finance the construction of high speed or maglev train systems that serve every region of our country. These need to be powered with electricity that is generated with no impact to the environment.

We need to faze out the use of all coal burning power plants and replace them with nuclear and renewable sources of energy.

To build this type of infrastructure would change our economy and stimulate growth. It would also be the best way to combat global warming in the US. The auto industry could reposition itself as a builder of the rail system and the oil/gas and other natural resourse raping lobby's can build the nuclear plants.

This type of growth will again create living wage jobs and stimulate the rest of our economy and save our environment.

Another aspect of this new deal is the necessity of single payer healthcare. This can be financed by the tax increases on those in the top 10% of wage earners (which is fair since they have been raping the American people long enough). Pharma needs to be required to donate dollar for dollar to research institutions for every dollar they spend on advertizing and lobbying and there needs to be price controls on their products. I work in the medical field and can see no reason other than greed (profiteering) for charging $3000.00 for an injection that some patients receive daily for months as they are being treated for cancer.

I have ranted enough. We need a New Deal for America for the 21st Century, and these are some ideas about how and where to start. Unless we make bold, progressive moves, our country will never regain the greatness that it once had.

When will I be able to have the same protections in my relationships that heterosexual people have. I pay my taxes (which in Utah goes to educating the multitudes of fascist/cultist spawn). If my partner decides to end our relationship, where is my protection? I have invested in our lives together as much as my partner, but since we used his VA loan to purchase our house, we had to keep it in his name. I don't care about marraige per se, but I do want equal protection under the law in my relationships.
EQUAL! I don't need special rights, just equal.